


Period of Adjustment

by Marksider89



Series: A Strange Sense of Normalcy [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-06-08 05:17:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15236172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marksider89/pseuds/Marksider89
Summary: Amélie adjusts to her new life with Lena and Emily after Talon's brainwashing was broken.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Disclaimer: Overwatch is copyright Activision/Blizzard. I do not own Overwatch or its characters, and I make no money off their use in this fic.
> 
> 2) If you haven't, I strongly recommend that you read the other stories in this series ("Betting On A Bumming" and "Does This Even Count As An Apology?") first. It'll help contextualize this story.
> 
> 3) This first prologue chapter takes place a week after the events of "Betting On A Bumming", the first real chapter will take place immediately following that story.

  
Reaper is not a happy man.   
  
Right now he is _particularly_ unhappy.   
  
And why is that?   
  
Rain.   
  
Gabriel Reyes had enjoyed rain once upon a time, back when he was growing up in Los Angeles, it was a rarity, something special, a brief respite from the scorching hot summers. Nowadays, he considered rain to be the bane of his existence. He preferred when it snowed than when it rained, because snow mostly just made you cold, which wasn't that bad considering he wore all black clothes and they kept him pretty warm. Rain however soaked through his clothes, drenching him to levels of discomfort that annoyed him to no end.   
  
Right now, Reaper stood on a rooftop in jolly ol' London in the middle of a torrential downpour, waiting for whoever from Talon had contacted him to show themselves.   
  
"Fucking English weather." he grumbled.   
  
"There you are, Gabriel." came a placid voice.   
  
Reaper turned to find Moira walking towards him. She was clad in her usual battle attire and holding a black umbrella.   
  
"Why did you call me here, Moira?" he growled at her. Moira, however, was unperturbed.   
  
"I'll be blunt, Gabriel. It appears that Widowmaker has gone missing."   
  
"Missing? As in MIA, or AWOL?"   
  
"Unknown, and honestly, I'm not sure which possibility is worse. Come."   
  
Moira turned, walked to the edge of the roof, and casually leapt across a narrow alleyway to the slightly lower roof of the next building. When she heard Reaper land next to her, she gave him a sideways glance.   
  
" _This_ is the roof you were supposed to meet us on." she said, gesturing to the large section of roof covered by an art tent. To an outsider it would appear as though the owners planned on having some kind of rooftop party that was now cancelled due to the rain.   
  
"The message said to meet on _that_ roof." he answered, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.   
  
Moira sighed.   
  
"I suppose that's what we get when I have Sombra be the one to relay the message to you."   
  
Reaper groaned. Somehow, he had a feeling that it hadn't a mistake.   
  
"When was our last contact with Widow?" he asked as they made their way to the tent.   
  
"One week ago. As per protocol, if someone goes out of contact, we operate under the assumption that they've been compromised, and give them a week to contact us."   
  
"Right. And why was she here in the first place?"   
  
"She was tailing James Arthur Murray, an American Senator that we've had in our pocket for some time now. However, we've begun to suspect that he's not being entirely faithful to us. He's been making lots of trips to London, but won't divulge why. Widowmaker was merely here to observe and report his activities. This rooftop marks her last known location."   
  
Moira pulled the flap of the tent open and they entered to find Sombra sitting in a corner with several holo-screens before her. She was taking an obnoxiously loud sip from her drink while typing one-handedly on one of the screens. She set her drink down next to her, and finally looked up and noticed them.   
  
"Hi Gabby!" she said with a wave. Reaper merely grunted in response.   
  
"Sombra is checking all the nearby camera systems for possible traces of Widowmaker." Moira explained.   
  
Reaper addressed Sombra, "Have you found anything?"   
  
Sombra's eyebrows furrowed and she folded her arms. "No. Which is really weird."   
  
"Why?"   
  
Sombra looked at him as if he'd just asked the dumbest question in history. "Because it's _London_. London not only has the highest amount of security cameras per capita, it has the most security cameras of any city, period. Which means one of two things. If la araña _has_ gone AWOL, then she had to know exactly where every camera along her route was and which way they are pointed, which becomes even more problematic when most of them can either be moved remotely or turn on a timed interval."   
  
"Certainly a challenge." said Moira.   
  
"Exactly. But what's worse is if she was attacked, because then her attackers would have to know the same things before, during, and after attacking her."   
  
"Which would imply a highly organized takedown."   
  
"Excuse me?"   
  
They all turned to see a Talon grunt standing just inside the entrance to the tent.   
  
"Sorry for interrupting, but we've found something."   
  
"What is it, Joanes?" Moira asked.   
  
"A boot-print. In an alleyway about a mile and a half Southeast. It matches Widowmaker's boots."   
  
"That's in the direction of King's Row." Moira said to Reaper in a low voice, before addressing Joanes. "Show me." she said, taking a step to follow him. She was stopped by Reaper's hand on her shoulder.   
  
"No." he said sharply, "I'm taking you off this."   
  
Moira turned to face him. "I beg your pardon?" she asked, annoyance clear in her voice.   
  
"You were the one in charge of maintaining Widowmaker's conditioning. If she _has_ gone AWOL, what do you think the council is going to think? They'll probably think _you_ had something to do with it. Either that you failed in her maintenance, or that you actually _helped_ her."   
  
"But I didn't." Moira practically growled at him.   
  
"I know that. But how are you going to convince the others?"   
  
Moira thought for a moment, "Alright, I admit that it would certainly be a challenge to do so, but why should I not be allowed to investigate? It could potentially clear my name."   
  
"Because _if_ the council think that you helped Widowmaker, you leading the investigation might make them think that you're attempting to cover up your tracks. If you want my advice, go back to Oasis and lay low for a while, bury yourself in you work until this blows over or gets resolved."   
  
Moira considered his words for a moment, and let out a huff of a sigh. "Fine. Just be sure to notify me if there are any developments." At Reaper's nod, she turned and left the tent. Reaper turned to the grunt that Moira had called 'Joanes'.   
  
"Are you certain the boot-print is hers?"   
  
"Yes sir. Widowmaker's boots are one-of-a-kind, and the print is a perfect match."   
  
Reaper folded his arms. "I don't trust it."   
  
"What do you mean, sir?"   
  
"If Widowmaker was attacked, the attack had to have been meticulously planned, and her attackers likely would have taken great care to make sure that no traces were left behind. On the other hand, if Widowmaker has gone AWOL, she had to have planned this very carefully, and she wouldn't have made this kind of mistake, unless it was to throw us off."   
  
"You're saying she might not have gone in the direction of King's Row?"   
  
"I'm saying that it likely that she went towards King's Row, planted that boot-print, and then took off in another direction."   
  
"So what should we do, sir?"   
  
"Focus your search around the boot-print, and slowly radiate outward in all directions. I want hourly updates. If nothing's been found by midnight, return to base and put the word out to all agents." Reaper stepped closer and loomed menacingly over him, "And I want _any_ sightings of Widowmaker to be reported directly. to. me. Understood?"   
  
Joanes snapped into a shaky salute, "Yes sir!"   
  
"Good. Dismissed."   
  
Joanes turned and all but ran out of the tent. With him gone, there was a moment of silence, save for the rain.   
  
"Not bad, Gabe." Reaper nearly jumped when Sombra spoke. Nearly. "I liked the part about 'covering up your tracks'. Especially since that's kind of what _you're_ doing." Sombra chuckled.   
  
"You just make sure you hold up your end of the deal." he growled as he stalked over to her.   
  
Sombra gave a dismissive wave. "Yeah, yeah. You got nothing to worry about. Your little ice skating story is safe with me."   
  
He studied her for a moment. "Did you actually find anything on the cameras?"   
  
Sombra chuckled. "She wasn't as stealthy as Talon probably would have liked her to be when they made her. She got caught on a couple of cameras. A glimpse of her ponytail here. A single frame with her shadow there. It's been easy enough to edit them out."   
  
"Good." He was quiet for a minute. "How's she doing?"   
  
Sombra raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do you care?" she asked, no anger or accusations in her voice.   
  
"I may not be a good person, but...I knew her husband, and he was a good man. He didn't deserve what happened."   
  
"Neither did _she_ , you know."   
  
Reaper nodded sadly, "Yeah...you're right." His voice was surprisingly soft. "How's she been doing?"   
  
"Not too bad, actually. She was a bit shy at first. The interesting thing is, if Lena's not in the room, she's like a lost puppy, just quietly looking around, waiting for her to come back. But she's starting to open up."   
  
"That's good."   
  
"Aren't you gonna ask about su novio." she teased.   
  
"He's not my boyfriend." Reaper growled.   
  
Sombra laughed. "That's not what your texting history says."   
  
"Goddammit, stop that!"   
  
"The best part was when Jack accidentally sent a dick-pic to McCree."   
  
"Wait, seriously?"   
  
"Yeah! I wish I could have seen his reaction to that." she laughed.   
  
Reaper stood there for a moment, his mind processing the image of Jesse picking up the phone, opening the message and seeing...that.   
  
For the first time in years, Gabriel Reyes laughed. It started out as a chuckle, but it quickly evolved into a full belly laugh, and Sombra laughed along with him. When their laughter had died down, Reaper let out a hefty sigh.   
  
"I...I miss them." He said it so softly that Sombra almost didn't hear him.   
  
"Hey, cheer up, Gabe. Amélie's been given a second chance at life. I'm getting a chance to do real good for once. There's still hope for you, too."   
  
Reaper shook his head. "No. It's too late for me. I'm beyond redemption."   
  
Sombra rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Coward." she grumbled.   
  
"What did you say?" Reaper growled out slowly.   
  
"You heard me." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Life has many doors, 'Reap-boy'. The question is; have you got the cojones to go through the right one?"   
  
"And how exactly am I supposed to know which one _is_ the right one?"   
  
Sombra grinned at him, "That's easy. It's the one you're most afraid to go through."   
  
Reaper glared at her for a moment, before letting out a huff and walking out of the tent.   
  
Sombra let out a sigh once he was gone. "Well, I tried." she said to herself.   
  
Pulling an earbud from her pocket, she placed it into her ear and switched one of the screens in front of her to D.Va's current livestream. A soft smile spread across her face as her girlfriend's face came up on screen. 'Checking the camera feeds' would take a while.


	2. The Morning After (Part 1)

Amélie screwed her eyes shut tighter in an attempt to block out the sunlight currently shining on her face.  After a moment, she acknowledged that this strategy wasn't working, and instead opted to roll over and face away from the light source.  
  
After a few minutes of attempting to force herself back to sleep, she admitted to herself that it wasn't working, and gave up trying.  Letting out a huff, she blearily opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep. As her eyes focused, she quickly became aware of where she was: Lena's quarters at Overwatch's Watchpoint Gibraltar.  
  
But something felt off.  She sat up slowly and looked around.  When she had fallen asleep, Lena and Emily had been in the bed with her.  Now, she was alone, and it was eerily quiet. Just as she was about to call out for them, the door to the en suite bathroom opened to reveal Emily, mid-yawn.  
  
Her hair was still tussled from sleep, and she wore nothing more than a plain white tee-shirt that hung loosely off one shoulder and a pink pair of cotton panties.  Amélie felt a warmth rise in her cheeks. In the short time that Amélie had known Emily, she had already determined that one thing Emily and Lena had in common was their ability to be both adorable and sexy at the same time, even when completely disheveled.  
  
Emily finished her yawn and blinked for a moment.  Upon seeing Amélie sitting up and looking at her, she gave a sleepy smile.  “Good morning. Sleep well?”  
  
Amélie nodded, “Yes, thank you.” she paused for a second, “Um, may I ask, where is Lena?”  
  
“You just missed her.  She went for her morning run.”  
  
Amélie let out a sound that was something of a mix between a scoff and a chuckle, “Does that girl ever stop moving?”  
  
Emily chuckled, “From my experience, she has exactly four settings; eating, sleeping, running, and fucking.”  
  
Caught off guard by that last one, Amélie let out a very undignified snort of laughter,  and immediately blushed in embarrassment, which caused Emily to fall into a fit of giggles, and, after taking a moment to recover, Amélie found herself joining in the laughter.  
  
Once they had calmed down, Emily gestured over her shoulder, “Bathroom’s free if you need it.” she said, before making her way over to the dresser.  “Unless you'd rather watch me get dressed.”  
  
The blush quickly returned to Amélie’s face, but she recovered quickly.  “As tempting as that is, I'm afraid my need to use the...facilities...is going to have to take precedence.” she said, silently enjoying the musical laugh that came from the redhead.  
  
A few minutes later, having used the aforementioned facilities, Amélie was washing her hands, when she looked up and caught sight of herself in the mirror.  She frowned, because, while the face staring back at her was her own, it also wasn't. The golden eyes were not the eyes that she remembered. The unnaturally bluish skin was not hers.  It felt alien. She felt like a stranger in her own body.  
  
Her hands gripped the edge of the sink tighter as she felt an anger begin to fester within her.  Anger at the woman in the mirror-no...anger at the people who _ made _ the woman in the mirror.  People with no capacity for empathy.  People who were willing to commit unspeakable acts, just for the sake of their own petty grievances, whims, and desires.  
  
She remembered everything.  The day she was kidnapped in broad daylight.  The weeks of torture. The feeling of the chemicals injected into her that caused her to scream in agony.  Chemicals that made her feel like she was burning or freezing, or make her head feel like it was going to explode.  Chemicals that distorted her memory or her sense of reality. Interrogations that lasted hours at a time, until she couldn't remember what was real or what was the truth.  
  
She could remember being the Widowmaker.  She could remember feeling nothing as she watched the life fade from Gérard's eyes.  She could remember every mission, every shot she had fired, every life she had ended.  She could remember feeling nothing except the satisfaction of a successful mission.  
  
Now, it all felt like a horrible dream.  
  
Amélie was shaken from her thoughts by a knock on the door, followed by Emily's concerned voice.  “Amélie? You alright, luv? You've been in there for quite a while.”  
  
Taking a couple breaths to collect herself, she turned off the faucet and opened the door to find a concerned Emily waiting for her.  “I apologize. I was...lost in thought.”  
  
“Okay...but are you alright?” Emily asked cautiously.  
  
Amélie stared at the floor as she considered her answer.  After a few seconds she looked back at Emily, “Non. I am angry.”  
  
“About what?”  
  
“About...about what happened to me.”  She clenched her jaw in an attempt to fight the urge to break down into tears again.  Her efforts weren’t completely successful, and single tear escaped her eye.  
  
Before she could break down again, Emily reached up and cupped her cheeks, wiping away the tear.  “Amélie, listen to me, luv. I can’t promise that everything’s gonna be okay, but I _ know _ that Lena and everyone here at Overwatch is gonna do everything they can to make sure that Talon pays for what they did to you.  And, I don’t want to push you, but if you need someone to talk to, I’m willing to listen.”  
  
“I...I’m not sure that I am ready, yet.” Amélie’s voice was still a bit shaky.  
  
“It’s okay.  Like I said: when you’re ready.”  
  
Amélie nodded and gave a quiet “Thank you.”  
  
Emily gave a reassuring smile.  “No worries. Now then, your hair is still a mess.  Would you like me to help you sort that out?”  
  
“Um...perhaps I should get dressed first, non?”  She was still wearing the clothes that Emily had loaned her: a black t-shirt and a pair of lightweight yoga pants that were just a bit too tight, due to Emily being a bit shorter than her, and Amélie was fairly certain that both Lena and Emily enjoyed the sight of her in them, not that she really minded.  
  
Emily giggled, and although it was different from Lena’s, Amélie found it just as adorable.  “That’s probably a good idea. Even if I enjoy the sight of you wearing my clothes, the others might not feel the same.”  
  
A few minutes later Amélie found herself sitting in a chair with her hair draped over the back.  Emily sat behind her on the bed, carefully running a brush through Amélie’s purple hair. Amélie was now dressed in a black button-up shirt and a pair of blue jeans.  Again, they were a bit tight, but not intolerable. She also wore a pair of Emily’s shoes, and they had both been pleased to find that they wore the same shoe size.  
  
“We’ll head into town later and get you some proper clothes.” Emily told her.  
  
Amélie frowned slightly.  “Are you sure it will be safe?  I’m technically still an internationally wanted assassin.”  
  
“Well, for one, except for Sombra and Reaper, Talon has no idea where you are.  Two, most people have no idea what ‘the Widowmaker’ even looks like. And three, Gibraltar is really accepting.  I mean, they have a talking gorilla scientist from the moon living just outside town, and Winston _ does _ go into town every so often.  How do you think he gets food?”  
  
Amélie blinked.  “I...had not really thought about that.”  
  
“As long as you pay for your things and don’t cause any trouble, most everyone in town is really nice.”  
  
“That is a relief.”  
  
There was an awkward silence between them for a moment, the only sound was that of a small television in the corner of the room that Emily had tuned to BBC News.  
  
“Emily?”  
  
“Yes, luv?”  
  
“May I ask you something?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
Amélie hesitated, trying to figure out how she wanted to phrase her question.  
  
“Why are you so...accepting of this?  You allowed me into your home, even though I was a cold-hearted killer.  You are allowing your girlfriend to engage in a relationship with another woman.  It is...not something that most people would do.”  
  
The brushing stopped.  
  
After a moment, Emily sighed.  “I knew this question was gonna come sooner or later.”  
  
She fiddled with the brush in her hands for a moment, trying to think of how she should phrase her answer.  
  
“Well… firstly, I believe it was the right thing to do.  When Lena and I read through Talon’s files on you, we both were disgusted and horrified that they would do such things to another human being.”  
  
Amélie turned to face her when she paused.  Emily’s eyebrows were furrowed as she stared down at the brush in her hands.  
  
“The second part is...a bit more complicated.”  She paused again, but then gave a single-note chuckle, “Well...someone once told me: ‘If you don’t know where to start, go back to the beginning’.  So I guess I’ll do that.  
  
“That night...with Mondatta, Lena didn’t recognize you at first.  It wasn’t until you spoke, that she realized who you were.”  
  
“That explains her reaction.” Amélie said sadly.  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“After I...After I killed Mondatta, she managed to pin me down, and she asked me ‘Why would you do that?’ and she looked utterly heartbroken.”  
  
“I suppose it was quite the one-two punch, so to speak: someone she greatly admired had been murdered, and someone she loved had pulled the trigger.”  
  
Emily could see the sadness return to Amélie’s face, “Hey, what happened happened, and we can't change that, but what we _ can _ do is make a new,  _ better _ tomorrow.  It was  _ not _ Amélie Lacroix who killed Mondatta, it was Widowmaker.  It may have been your body, but it was not your mind.”  
  
A weak smile found its way onto Amélie’s face.  Emily’s calm optimism was slowly breaking through her sadness.  She had once heard someone be referred to as having a ‘monolithic calm’, and Amélie found that to be a fitting description of Emily.  
  
“When I got home from work that night, Lena was sitting on the couch, staring off into space.  I could see that she wanted to cry. I told her that she didn’t have to tell me anything, but she said that she wanted to.  She said that I deserved to know. She told me everything, about what had happened that night, about who you were, and the relationship you two used to have.  
  
“At first, she was sad and angry, but that soon turned to denial.  She refused to believe that you would do that of you own free will.  She was determined to figure out why you did it. Last month, she came home with a flash drive.  She explained what it was, or rather, what she _ hoped _ it was...”  
  
“The medical files.” Amélie finished.  
  
“Right.  But because she’d gotten it from Sombra, who we didn’t really know if we could trust, we knew we had to be cautious.  So, I have three computers; one that I use for work, one that we use for surfing the net and playing games, and a little laptop that we use for watching old DVDs in bed.  So, we plugged it into the laptop, cause that’s the only one not connected to the internet and had no sensitive info. We figured that was the safest option.  
  
“We spent the rest of the night reading about Talon did to you.  Lena cried a couple times. I felt sick to my stomach for a good part of it.  ‘I have to do something’ she said to me. We talked about it for hours, and it went about how you’d expect.  We discussed the risks, the possibility that it could backfire, the possibility that it might not work - that you might be...beyond fixing.”  
  
“I am glad that was not the case.” Amélie said softly.  
  
Emily smiled.  “Me too. Now, as for your question as to why I’m okay with all of this.  To put it simply, it’s because I love Lena.” Emily gave another chuckle, “Okay, okay, I should probably explain that a bit more.  Most people believe that ‘true love’ is when you’re willing to do anything for another person, even things like sacrificing your own life or happiness.  I don’t necessarily agree with that. Love should be a two-way street. If you’re willing to sacrifice, but they aren’t, then that’s not ‘true love’. To me, ‘true love’ is when _ both _ people are willing to do what it takes to make the other happier, safe, and an overall better person.  
  
“I love Lena, and I want her to be happy, and I know that being able to have both me _ and _ you would make her the happiest girl in the world.  I’ve dated Lena for four years now, and I know that she’s got the biggest heart in the world, and I know that if the situation were reversed, she would do the same for me.  
  
“And besides, there’s always the chance that something could develop between _ us _ .” she finished with a shrug.  
  
Amélie stared into Emily’s eyes.  How could this woman be so unwaveringly kind?  Especially towards someone who, 24 hours ago, would have been willing to kill her and never give it a second thought.  Someone who she would be completely justified in being jealous of. She was essentially Lena’s ex. Most people in Emily’s position would hate her, or fear that Lena would leave them for Amélie.  
  
All Amélie could think to do was pull her into a hug, and whisper a small “Thank you.”  
  
Emily returned the hug, letting out a soft “No problem, luv.”  
  
“Aaw!”  
  
They both turned towards the direction of the new voice, and found Lena standing just inside the door to the room, drenched in sweat from her run, and there were practically hearts in her eyes.  
  
“That was so sweet.  What brought this about?”  
  
Emily smiled.  “Just getting to know each other, luv.”  
  
Lena clasped her hands together, letting out a mix between a coo and a sigh.  “That's wonderful. I...I admit I was a bit worried that you guys might not get along.”  
  
“Of course we get along, chérie.” Amélie said.  “After all...” she and Emily shared a knowing look before turning their attention back to Lena, “you have great taste in women.” she finished with a smile.  
  
Lena blushed slightly, but she was more happy than embarrassed.  “Aw, you guys.”  
  
She moved to hug them, but was stopped by Emily.  “Uh, babe, as much as I love seeing you all hot and sweaty, _ we _ are both relatively clean still.  So go wash up,  _ then _ you get hugs and kisses, then we’ll go get breakfast.  Yeah?”  
  
Lena snapped into a salute.  “Yes ma’am!” she chirped, before Blinking into the bathroom.  
  
A moment later they could hear the shower start, and Emily shook her head with a chuckle.  “God, I love that little dork.”  
  
Amélie smiled.  “As do I.” she said softly.  However, as she watched Emily turn and begin picking up some discarded clothes, her thoughts continued, _ ‘...and I think I’m starting to see what she sees in you as well’ _ .   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go, a little angst and fluff between Amélie and Emily. Hope you liked it.


	3. The Morning After (Part 2)

Amélie could feel her heart speed up ever so slightly as Lena led her into the Watchpoint’s cafeteria.  Just 24 hours ago, these people had been her enemies, and now, she was about to have breakfast with them.  How would they react to her presence? Would they accept her? Hate and fear her? Would they not care at all?

She took a breath to try and calm her nerves.  Angela had warned her that she might experience some anxiety as her heart rate normalized, but she hadn’t expected to feel it so soon.  Perhaps it had something to do with having her own mind back.

Her thoughts were cut short as she was pulled into the cafeteria.  Immediately, the memories of the training she’d received as Widowmaker came back to her, and she unconsciously took stock of who was there.  At one table sat Jack Morrison, who looked up from glaring into his coffee as Lena, Emily and Amélie entered. Amélie could see him tense slightly.  ‘ _He's suspicious of me,_ ’ she thought, ‘ _though, I can't exactly blame him._ ’

Winston was seated next to Jack, with Angela across from them.  Angela and Winston appeared to be reading on their holo pads as they ate.  At the table next to them, Amélie could see Satya Vaswani and Mei-Ling Zhou, who appeared to be analyzing a semi-transparent hard light projection of a building, and there were an ungodly amount of papers strewn before them, filled with charts, diagrams, and blueprints.

Honestly, she had expected more people to be present.

“Attention everyone!” Lena’s voice rang out, causing everyone to turn to look at them.  Amélie felt nervous under their gaze. “Allow me to introduce, or reintroduce, Amélie Lacroix!” Lena said in her usual, chipper voice, gesturing towards Amélie as though she were a showcase prize.  Amélie, unsure of what to do, gave a timid smile and wave.

The response she received was fairly polite.  Mei, Winston, and Angela offered a cheerful “Good morning.” while Jack and Satya simply nodded in acknowledgement, with Satya adding a simple “Hello.”

“...And for those who haven’t met her…” Lena continued, now gesturing towards her other girlfriend, “allow me to introduce, Emily McLoughlin!”

While Emily’s smile and wave were less awkward than Amélie’s, the reaction was much the same.   _‘Are they all still tired?’_ Amélie thought.   _‘No, they all seem pretty awake.  Perhaps these are just the less...enthusiastic members.'_

Before Amélie could continue her train of thought, Lena grabbed her hand and led her over to a doorway that looked like it _used_ to have a set of swinging doors.  She'd have to ask about that some day.  Beyond the doorway was the kitchen, with the hulking form of Reinhardt standing in front of a flat-top grill.  Instantly, Amélie’s nose was assaulted by the decadent smells of pancakes, sausages, hash browns, toast, a hint of fruit, and above all, coffee.

Once upon a time, before Talon, before Widowmaker, Amélie had loved coffee, particularly espressos.  Her eyes lit up at the prospect of indulging in a cup or two, but she frowned when she remembered the restrictions Angela had placed on her.  No caffeine, no sex, or even rigorous exercise, for at least 90 days, or until Angela had deemed her heart healthy enough.

Maybe decaf would be alright, if they have it.

“Guten morgen!” Reinhardt’s booming voice shook her from her thoughts.  “Come and eat, my new friends!”

“Mornin’ Rein!  Smells delish!” Lena greeted him.  Emily and Amélie voiced similar greetings and sentiments before filling their plates with food.  Amélie found it hard to not smile around Reinhardt. The man simply seemed to radiate friendliness.

...and there _was_ decaf coffee.

A few moments later, Amélie was seated between Angela and Lena, while Emily sat across from Lena, next to Winston.

“How are you feeling this morning, Amélie?” Angela asked her once she’d sat down.

“I am...alright, I suppose.” Amélie said., but then a thought struck her, “Um, I was actually wondering, is there anything you can do about these awful tattoos?” she asked, looking down at her arms.  She knew that, for as long as they remained, they would serve as a physical reminder of the horror she had been through and the terrible things she had done.

Angela smiled, “Yes, actually.  Tattoo removal has come a long way in recent years, and with the use of nanites, it can be done more quickly than ever.”

Amélie all but glared at her forearms.  “I would like that.”

“I will happily take care of it, but I’d like to wait until your physiology has normalized somewhat.”

Amélie nodded.  “I understand. Thank you, docteur.” she said, before focusing on her breakfast.

Just as Amélie finished savoring her first sip of coffee, a new voice rang out.

“Mornin’, y’all.”

With that, Jesse McCree sauntered in.  Well, perhaps “dragged himself in, barely awake” would be a more apt description.  He made a beeline to the kitchen and returned a minute later with food and coffee. As he sat down on the other side of Lena, Amélie’s attention was drawn back to the table, and the question that Winston was asking Emily.

“-your job?  Won’t they wonder where you are?”

“One of the perks of owning your own business.” Emily chuckled.  “I just had to call the manager who opened today, and let them know that I’d be unavailable for a few days.  I just said that my girlfriend was having some medical issues and had to go out of town to see a specialist and that I wanted to go with her so I could support her.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a lie?” Angela asked.

“Not necessarily.  I merely neglected to mention _which_ girlfriend.” Emily replied, giving Amélie a smile, which caused the French woman to blush slightly, but smile back at her.

“So, what work do you do?” Jesse asked around a mouthful of hash browns.

“Oh nothing to glamorous.  I just own a lingerie shop is all.” she said with a wave of her hand.

Silence fell as they all processed this new information.

“Really?”

“Yep.  Well, I didn't _start_ the business, I just took over when the previous owner retired.  That was...six years ago now.” She shook her head. “Wow, has it really been that long?”

“Well... that’s...interesting.”  Angela spoke up. “Lena talks about you quite often, but she’s never mentioned what you did for a living.”

“Wait, really?  None of you knew?” Emily asked.  She turned to Lena, “You never told them?”

Lena laughed.  “I guess not. I actually can’t believe I never told them that!”

Emily laughed as well.  “Especially since that’s where we met!”

“Really?” ask Winston.

“Yeah!  It was a bit after Overwatch shut down.  I was seeing this girl, uh, Maureen. Nice girl.  Really smart. Like, she had degrees in theoretical physics and mechanical engineering ‘n’ stuff.  We’d been together for, like, four months, and her birthday was comin’ up, yeah? So I get her a gift, right?  But I also wanted to get her something a bit...extra. Ya know?”

“That being lingerie?” Angela asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lena looked bashful.  “Yeah. Well, we hadn’t had sex yet, but we’d _talked_ about it, and she’d mentioned that she had a lingerie fetish.  Not to mention, an _extensive_ collection.  So, even though I’m not really one to wear lingerie, I figured she might like…‘unwrapping’ me.  Luckily for me, the pretty redhead behind the counter was kind and patient enough to help a clueless berk like me find something I actually looked good in.”

“And look good you did.” Emily said with a grin.

Amélie had never seen Lena in lingerie.  For as long as she’d known, Lena had always worn a sports bra and boyshorts (often with a Union Jack pattern).  But now, the mental images of Lena in various salacious and risque outfits were causing a pleasant warmth the course through her.

“So what happened?  Obviously y’ain’t together anymore.” Jesse asked.

“She broke up with me two days later.” Lena said with half a frown.  “Gave me the whole ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ speech. I get the feeling _this_ ,” she motioned at her chronal accelerator, “had something to do with it.  Anyway, when I went to return the lingerie, I was told to keep it.”

“Huh?”

Emily chuckled.  “I told her there was still a chance she might find a use for it.  Who knows, maybe she’d get the chance to wear it for _me_ someday.  And Lena starts blushing and is like, ‘Wot?’  So I said, ‘Perhaps we should start with dinner’.”

“So we went to dinner that Friday,” Lena said with a dreamy smile, “and we’ve been together ever since.”

Angela smiled.  “That's quite swee-”  She froze. They all followed her gaze to find Ana standing in the doorway, looking uncomfortable.

“Has anyone seen Fareeha?  I...I need to speak with her.”

“She left.” Angela answered.

“Left?  But she just got back.”

“She agreed to fly Zarya and Sombra to Volskaya.”

“I would have done it,” said Lena, “but I didn’t want to just up and leave Amélie so soon.”  She folded her arms, “And I’m still a bit miffed she never told me she was a certified pilot.  ‘Of course I’m a pilot. I needed to be certified to prove I could handle the G-forces experienced when flying the Raptora’.” she finished with a poor impression of Fareeha before going into a full pout, earning a few chuckles from the others.

“She should be back some time tomorrow.” Angela said, trying not to laugh at Lena’s pout.

“I see.” Ana said with a nod.  Just as she turned to leave, Amélie spoke.

“Ana.”  The single word was enough to make her freeze.  Amélie stood and slowly made her way over to stand in front of the older woman.  They both stood there for a moment, unmoving, and both having difficulty making eye contact.

“Ana...I just want to say I’m sor-”

“Don’t.”  Ana held up a hand to cut her off.  “You don’t have to apologize, dear. What happened wasn’t your fault.”

“But-”

Ana cut her off again, “No.  If anything, I owe _you_ an apology.”

Amélie stammered for a moment.  “W-Why?”

“The last time we spoke, I said that...that Gérard was a fool to love you.  I said that under the mistaken belief that you had been an agent for Talon from the beginning.  Now that I know the truth, I...I’m sorry.”

Amélie studied her.  This woman, who had once been a proud and brilliant soldier, now looked more vulnerable than ever.

“Perhaps it would be best if we agreed that we are both sorry, and that we both accept each other’s apologies.” Amélie said, offering a small, reassuring smile.

For the first time since their conversation had started, Ana looked her in the eye.  With a soft smile, she nodded. “Yes. I think that would work.”

Amélie surprised everyone by pulling Ana into a hug.  Startled at first, Ana took a moment to process what was happening, and returned the hug.  “It's good to have you back.” she said.

“I am glad to be back.” Amélie mumbled into her shoulder.

As they separated, Angela spoke.  “Ana,” Ana cautiously faced her, “when Fareeha returns, perhaps it would be best if _all three_ of us sit down and discuss things.”

Ana let out a sigh, “Yes.  That probably would be best.”  And with that, she turned and left.

Amélie turned and began heading back to the table, when her eyes caught sight of Satya again, and she remembered something.

“Ms Vaswani?”

Satya looked up, surprised that Amélie, someone who was basically a complete stranger, would have a need to talk to her.  “Yes?”

“Are you familiar with a man named Sanjay Korpal?”

Satya blinked, confused.  “Yes. He is a negotiator for Vishkar.  Why do you ask?”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news: Sanjay is a member of Talon’s council.” Amélie said, shocking everyone.

“So, you’re saying that Vishkar is in league with Talon?” Jack asked.

“No.” Amélie said turning to look at him.  “I am not saying that, because I do not know.  I was never a part of council meetings, so I do not know what his role within Talon is.  He could be embezzling money from Vishkar to fund Talon, or Talon could be using him as a means of some form of control over Vishkar.  It is possible that Vishkar is aware of, or even approves of his affiliation with Talon, but it is just as likely that they do not.”

Jack simply ‘hmm’d’ and returned to staring into his coffee.  Amélie turned back to Satya, “I felt that you deserved to know.  I just wish that there was more that I could tell you.”

Everyone sat in silence.  Satya looked at the floor, thinking.  After a moment, she spoke, “This is certainly troubling information,” she said before lifting her head and looking directly into Amélie’s eyes, “but I thank you for telling me.”

Amélie gave a polite nod before returning to her seat.

“What are you girls working on?” asked Lena, “...if you don’t mind me asking.” she added quickly.

“Oh!  It’s no trouble at all.” Mei said.  “It’s just something that Aleks asked us to look into on behalf of Volskaya Industries.”

“They have noticed multiple cracks in the foundation and structural supports for one of their factories.” Satya added.

“Yes.  From the looks of things, when they built it, they weren't expecting it to have to face the extreme weather conditions that it's been dealing with over the last decade or so.”

“By my calculations, this support pillar,” Satya pointed to a pillar in the corner of the hard light projection, “will collapse within the next three years, taking approximately twenty percent of the factory with it.”

“So we are trying to determine the best, and most cost effective, way to fix them; repair, replace, or reinforce?"

“Wow.  Sounds like you got your work cut out for you.”

“Oh, it's not so bad.” said Mei.  “I'm sure we will have something soon.”

“Well, if you need any help, I would be happy to assist in any way I can.” Winston offered.

“Thank you, Winston.  We will be sure to let you know.”

Turning her attention to Amélie, Lena placed her hand on Amélie’s.  “That was really nice of you to do all that, luv.” she said quietly.

“I want to heal the injuries that I have caused.  I want to help, if I can.”

“Trust me, luv, anything you can tell us about Talon will help.”

“That’s just it: I’m not sure what I could tell you that you don’t already know.”

Lena lifted Amélie’s hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.  “Well, don’t worry about it too much right now. For now, let’s eat, and when we’re done, we’ll head into town and get you some new clothes.  Yeah?”

Amélie smiled, lifted Lena's hand, and placed a kiss to her knuckles, just as Lena had done moments earlier.  “Sounds like a plan, chérie.”

 

* * *

 

Lena and Emily studied Amélie as she stared out over the cliffs of Gibraltar.  A small smile teased at Amélie’s lips and a single tear escaped her eye.

“You alright, luv?” Lena asked, concerned.

“I...I missed this.” Amélie said, wiping the tear from her cheek.

“Missed what?”

“Feeling.  I can feel the sun warming me.  I can feel the chill of the wind.  I can actually appreciate the beauty of this view.  I never realized how much I missed _feeling_ things.” her face fell, “I suppose that was the point, wasn’t it?”

She felt Lena’s fingers entwine with hers.  “What am I going to do? Talon didn’t just take my husband.  They didn’t just take my emotions. They took my career. They took my identity.  They took...everything.”

Amélie looked at Lena, who looked ready to cry herself.  “What am I going to do? Amélie Lacroix has most likely been presumed dead, so I don’t think I can just go back to my old life without issue.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure Sombra could come up with something, but it would probably be best to wait until we’re sure that Talon has been dealt with.  But as for what you’re gonna do...you’re gonna do what Talon would never want you to do.”

Amélie’s brow furrowed in confusion.  Lena cupped Amélie’s cheeks. “Be who _you_ want to be.  Be _what_ you want to be.  But most importantly, be free, and be happy.”

Amélie, feeling the tears threatening to flow again, pulled Lena into a hug.  “I want to be with you.” she mumbled into Lena’s messy locks, but then she remembered the other person with them, “...if that’s okay with you both.”

Emily smiled, “We already talked about this, luv.  As long as you’re both happy, and you don’t mind sharing, I have no problem with it.” she said joining their embrace.

Amélie pulled on arm from around Lena and wrapped it around Emily.  “Thank you. I know I’ve already said it, but thank you both.”

“No worries, luv, but we should probably get going.  It’s a hour’s walk to Gibraltar, and we still got to get you some clothes.”

Amélie nodded.  But as Lena started to pull back from the hug, she reached up and pulled Lena into a sweet, gentle kiss, causing her to sigh happily.  As she pulled back, Amélie looked to Emily, “May I?”

Emily nodded, and smiled as Amélie leaned in and gave her a kiss as well.

“Bloody hell, that’s hot.” Lena mumbled without thinking, making both of her girlfriends laugh.

Emily ruffled Lena’s hair.  “Come on, you bloody goof, let’s go.”

With that the three began making their way down the road to Gibraltar, and the next stage of their lives together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I got ready to post this, I noticed that the ending makes it seem like it's the end of the whole story. Rest assured, it's not. I've got at least 4 more chapters planned.
> 
> Thanks for reading and supporting me. It really means a lot.


	4. Starting to Feel Like Home (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is basically a montage of events that occur during Amélie's first month at the watchpoint.

 

“Hey!  No fair!  That’s cheating!”

“If it’s part of the game, it’s not cheating.  You just need to get on my level.”

Amélie watched from her position lounging on the common room couch as she watched Hana and Lúcio battle for dominance in some racing game.  It surprised her how quickly things like this had become part of her routine over the last few weeks.

At first, most of her time had been spent simply spending time with Lena and Emily, getting to know them both better.  At one point they had decided to spend an evening watching movies. She smiled as she remembered their conversation that night:

 

* * *

 

 

“You up for some horror?  Or maybe something with some nice action?”

“How about something funny?  Or maybe something romantic?”

“Hm...hey, Amélie, what kind of movies do you like?”

Amélie thought for a moment, “Well, my favorites are, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘The Princess Bride’, and ‘Dogma’.”

The last one made the two brits stop and look at her with a mix of confusion and mild shock.  “Dogma? Really? With the shit demon an’ everythin’?”

She shrugged.  “What? Am I not allowed to enjoy a bit of low-brow humor?”

“Well, no, but it was just unexpected is all.”

“Well, what about you then, chérie?  What are your favorite films?”

“Ooh, well, gotta go with ‘Shaun of the Dead’, ‘SLC Punk!’...” she thought for a moment, “...aaand ‘The Avengers’.  Although that’s mostly because of Scarlett Johansson.” she finished with a definitive nod.

Emily raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend.  “Is that why you keep saying I should dress up as Black Widow for Halloween?”

Lena bit her lip suggestively.  “Maybe.” she giggled, not-so-innocently.

Amélie chuckled, trying not to blush at the mental image of Emily in tight black leather.  She couldn't deny that Emily would look amazing. “And you, Emily? Your favorite films?”

Emily pursed her lips.  “Well, Lena’s were all good, but I like ‘Hot Fuzz’, the first ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, and my third…” she folded her arms thoughtfully, “I’m gonna go with ‘Withnail and I’.”

“Ooh, that _is_ a good one.  It it too late to change mine?”

“Yep, sorry.”  Emily said, not seriously at all.

“Aw.” Lena folded her arms in a false pout, but broke into a playful smirk at her girlfriends’ laughter.  Just as she was about to say something more, something caught her eye. “How ‘bout this one?” She asked, holding up the movie’s case to show them.

“I like that one, so it works for me.  Amélie?”

“I have not seen it, but if you both like it, I see no reason to not give it a try.”

Two hours later, Reinhardt entered the common room, intent on catching up on the late night news, only to find Lena, Emily, and Amélie snuggled together and sound asleep on the couch.  With a gentle smile, he picked them up one by one and, as quietly, cautiously, and carefully as he possibly could, carried all three to Lena’s quarters (while desperately hoping he didn’t throw his back out) and tucked them all into bed.

 

* * *

 

 

Over the coming weeks, after Emily had returned to England, Amélie stayed close to Lena.  She was surprised at just how busy Lena was on a daily basis. In addition to her pre-breakfast run, she would spend her mornings in the training arena, sparring with whoever was willing, which was usually Genji.  Amélie would watch from the observation room as Lena and Genji blurred around the arena, wincing whenever Lena took a hit.

“Please be more careful, chérie.  I do not like seeing you get hurt.” she said after a particularly brutal training session.

“But that’s what training’s for, innit?  Hone my reflexes so I don’t get caught like that during a real fight, right?”

“True, but that does not mean it is okay to be reckless.”

Lena looked at Amélie’s concerned expression.  “You're right, luv. I'm sorry,” she pulled Amélie into a hug.  “I’ll try to be more careful.”

Amélie pressed a kiss to Lena’s temple.  “Thank you, chérie.”

 

* * *

 

 

Afternoons were a bit less predictable.

Some days Lena would spend her afternoons in Winston’s lab, discussing her chronal dissociation and inspecting her chronal accelerator.

“It was all gibberish to me at first,” Lena had explained, “but the more Winston an’ I talk about it, the more I think I’m getting a handle on it, you know?  Though, I’ll admit, when I suggested that Winston should try to ‘reverse the polarity of the neutron flow’, it was meant as a joke,” she laughed “but he started looking into it, an’ he says it shows potential.”

 

Other days, she would make her way to the hangar and perform full inspections of the Orca.  Sometimes, Torbjörn, Brigette, or Fareeha would be in there as well. Once, the four of them spent nearly three hours discussing the aerodynamics of Fareeha’s Raptora armor.

But there was one time where Lena had surprised Amélie.  She had skipped her morning training session and gone directly to the hangar.  Amélie watched in confusion as Lena pulled a massive engine out of a storage closet.

Seeing Amélie’s curious look, Lena explained, “Spare engine for the Orca.  Gotta change ‘em out every month or so to make sure they stay in tip-top shape.”

Amélie watched in a bizarre fascination as Lena, over the course of nearly five hours, proceeded to dismantle the spare engine down to the nuts and bolts, clean and inspect every part, and then put it back together, adding oil or grease where necessary.

At one point, she looked up to see Amélie watching her.  “What?”

“Hm?”

“You’re starin’, luv.  An’ you got a weird smile on yer face.  Something funny”

Amélie chuckled, “You, chérie.  You look so adorable when you are concentrating.  You even stick your tongue out when you are particularly focused.”

Lena blushed, and cleared her throat in an attempt to cover her embarrassment.  “Right. Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the show, then. But now I gotta get this _into_ the Orca.”

Fifteen minutes later, with the use of a hydraulic crane, Lena has successfully maneuvered the old engine out of the Orca and replaced it with the spare.  “Now, just need to test it.” she said, more to herself than Amélie, as she climbed into the cockpit. A moment later Amélie heard the Ocra start up. It ran for a few minutes, and she could see Lena through the windshield, studying the console.  After a few minutes Lena powered down the Orca and exited the ship. “Runnin’ like a slice of fried gold.”

“I’m not even going to ask what that means.”

 

* * *

 

 

Evenings were more mundane.  After dinner, Amélie, Lena, and several others would convene in the common room, and catch up on world news.  After which the debate would begin: movie, TV, or video games. Amélie and Lena tended to stay out of the debate, opting to snuggle on the couch and simply watch whatever the others picked.

Eventually, Lena and Amélie would retire to their quarters and get ready for bed.  Neither was shy about watching the other change clothes. Lena would try (and fail) to not drool over every curve of Amélie’s femme fatale physique, and Amélie tried (and also failed) to not stare at Lena’s muscular, yet lithe form.  While Lena _was_ petite and thin, years of running and fighting had given her a ripped sprinters bod, and Amélie found it hard to not stare at her six-pack abs, biceps, triceps, quads, calves, and especially her glutes and they way the flexed as she slid her underwear up her legs.

Twice a week, as Lena and Amélie were settling into bed, Lena would video call Emily and they would catch up on each other’s lives, discussing everything and nothing all at once, and Amélie enjoyed every moment.  She enjoyed how _normal_ it all felt, even if she _was_ caught off-guard by how Emily ended the call the first time.

“Be sure to give her a big kiss goodnight for me.” she said.

“You talkin’ ta me or her, luv?” Lena countered with a giggle.

Emily returned the laugh, “Both of you!"

Amélie felt herself blush ever so slightly as Lena turned and planted a short, loving kiss to her lips.

Emily smiled and blew a kiss of her own at the camera.  “Good night, you two.”

“G’night, luv!”

“Bonne nuit, chérie.”

 

* * *

 

 

Now, this doesn’t mean that they spent their days only doing what Lena had to do.  For one, Amélie had to visit Angela for check-ups. They were fairly routine. Angela would check her vitals, ask how she felt, making sure she was eating right and getting enough exercise, but not overdoing it.  At first, it was every day, but as Amélie’s condition improved, Angela began to lessen the frequency of their visits to every other day, and then every third day, and so on.

Then there were her therapy sessions with Zenyatta.  Initially, Amélie had been reticent to even approach the omnic, considering what she had done to Mondatta while she was still Widowmaker, but Zenyatta was more than pleased that she wanted to atone for her past as Widowmaker.  So, sometimes, when Lena was in the hangar, or pestering Winston, Amélie would find Zenyatta, and she had come to value his company and advice.

She also enjoyed taking walks around the base.  The feeling of the sunshine warming her was something she savored.  Her enjoyment was only compounded by Lena joining her on her walks. They didn’t even need to converse.  They simply held hands as they walked, gently leaning into each other and enjoying each other's presence as well as the scenery.

 

* * *

 

 

But the thing that made Amélie the happiest was the fact that she and Lena didn’t have to hide their feelings anymore.  What had once been furtive glances, stolen kisses, and secret rendezvous, had turned into hand-holding as they walked around the base, full make-out sessions, and contented cuddling on the couch.

Speaking of which…

“Hey, luv.”

Amélie tore her gaze from the game to see Lena standing over her.  “Salut.” she greeted with an almost sing-songy tone.

“Sorry I’m a bit late, Brigette asked me to show her around the Orca in case she needed to make repairs if Torb isn’t available.”  Lena placed her accelerator down next to the couch and gently laid herself on top of Amélie.

“It is alright.” Amélie said, wrapping her arms around Lena's waist as they shared a kiss, which was quickly followed by a second.

...and then a third…

...and then another…

...and then-”Ugh!  Get a room!”

Lena let out a laugh at Hana’s outburst, but it was Amélie who spoke, “You know perfectly well that we would if I were not still under restriction.  Also, you cannot complain about us when you and Olivia are just as bad, if not worse.”

Hana pouted, “Yeah but I’m _cute_ , so it’s okay when _we_ do it.”

“Oi, that’s a bit mean.” Lena said.

“Agreed.  Emily is very cute.”

Lena clicked her tongue at Amélie, “Well, you’re not wrong, but what’s that make me, then?”

“Hmm…” Amélie thought for a brief moment.  “You…” she leaned closer, her face mere inches from Lena’s, “are adorable.” she finished before quickly ducking her head down and planting a bunch of quick kisses to the smaller girl’s neck, which made Lena squeal and dissolve into giggles.

“Okay!  Okay! I give!  I surrender!” she managed to get out through her laughter.  Amélie pulled back and ended the assault with a final lingering kiss on the lips.  When they separated, Lena stared glassy-eyed at her for a moment before blinking herself back to her senses.

She turned to Hana, “Hey, where is Sombra anyways?”

Hana shrugged.  “She only told me that she was heading to Germany to follow up on a lead of some kind.  She wouldn’t say what it was about, just that it was really important and that if it panned out, we’d get a mission out of it.”

Lena nodded in understanding before turning back to Amélie.  “Oh! Speaking of Emily, I’m gonna be leaving to visit her in a few days, you wanna come with?”

“Are you sure it is okay?”

“Of course!  Emily will love to have you visit proper.”

“I meant, do you think Jack, Winston, and Dr. Ziegler would _allow_ me to go?”

“Well, Jack will probably complain a bit…”

“A _lot_.” Hana scoffed.

“Winston will probably defer to Angie, and Angie will probably just want you to check in regularly, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted you to wear a heart rate monitor or something like that.”

“Well, If they will allow it, I would love to visit Emily with you.”

Lena gave her another kiss.  “I’ll talk to them in the morning.”

“Ugh!  I give up!” Lúcio groaned upon earning his tenth straight loss.  He waved his controller in the direction of Lena and Amélie. “Either of you wanna take over?”

Amélie gave a sympathetic smile, “I assure you, I would fare far worse than you.”

Lena, on the other hand… “Sure!  I’ll give it a shot. Speed is _my_ game after all.”

“Ha!  I won’t lose _that_ easily.  I play to win!” Hana boasted.

Five minutes later, Hana sat in stunned as she gawked at the screen.  “I...I lost? How could I lose?”

She turned toward Lena, intent on letting loose with a barrage of questions, but froze, open-mouthed, when she actually saw Lena.  Amélie lay on her back, draped across the couch with her eyes closed. She was gently raking her fingers through Lena’s hair. Lena sat in front of the couch, her eyes glassy and barely focused on the screen and a goofy smile on her face under Amélie’s ministrations.

“Unbelievable.” Hana grumbled.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. This was surprisingly tough to write. I was constantly second-guessing a re-writing. Not only am I splitting it into two parts (part two next month), but there was also a much longer scene with Zenyatta, but it didn't feel significantly different to any of the other fics I've read where Zenyatta counsels Amélie/Widowmaker, so I cut it.
> 
> Thank you to everyone for the all kudos and comments. They encourage me to keep writing. ^_^


	5. Starting to Feel Like Home (Part 2)

 

“Did you really think you’d get away that easily?” a voice cut through the darkness.

 _‘I know that voice.’_  Amélie thought.

Amélie opened her eyes cautiously, and she was greeted by Moira O'Deorain smiling down at her, her face was calm, yet smug.  Amélie felt her heart quicken. She had been captured by Talon again! But how? She couldn't remember. Why couldn't she remember?

“You gave us quite the fright, you know.  But don't worry, you'll be back, fully functional, soon enough.”

Amélie tried to move.  She wanted to run. To escape.  But she couldn't. Leather straps held her wrists, ankles, and head in place.  She tried to speak. To scream. To curse Moira and all of Talon with every insult she could think of.  But there was something covering her mouth.

Moira seemed to ignore her struggling.  “Now, I don’t know how your conditioning came undone...and your friends weren’t exactly helpful.”

_‘...My friends?’_

Moira chuckled, “I see you’re confused.  Here…”

Moira disappeared from Amélie’s sight and after a moment the table she was on tilted forward into a vertical position.  She felt her heart quicken even more as she saw what Moira meant. Across from her were Lena and Emily, strapped to tables like she was.

“Now then,” Moira said, coming back into view, “I _should_ be getting to work reprogramming you to get you back in working order…”

Amélie glared at her.   _‘Stop talking about me like I’m some kind of defective robot!’_

“...but I believe some punishment is in order.”

_‘What?’_

“So I’ve decided that you’ll get to watch as your friends are converted just as you were.”

Amélie’s eyes widened.   _‘No!  Please no!  Anything but that!’_

Moira stepped up to Lena and pulled the gag from her mouth.

“Amélie!  Listen to me.  We’re gonna get outta this.  Okay, I’m not really sure how, but we’ll figure something out.  I promise. Just don’t give up. Okay?”

Moira chuckled, “So resolute.  It’ll be interesting to see how long you last.”

Moira flinched as Lena hocked a loogie at her.  She wiped the saliva from her face with a grimace and turned back to Amélie.  “But, before we begin, I’ve been studying that little cocktail of chemicals they used to weaken your mind last time, and I’ve learned that they’re _much_ more effective when applied directly to the brain.”

Just as she finished speaking a masked Talon grunt appeared from the shadows and handed something to Moira.  Amélie was certain that everyone could hear her heart pounding as she recognized the object; a bone drill.

“We may just set a record with how quickly they break.” Moira said, a sinister pride in her voice.  She turned the drill on and turned back to Lena.

“Amélie, Emily, don’t look, okay?  Stay strong. I love you both.” Lena tried to reassure her girlfriends.

Amélie could hear her heart pounding and the drill got closer.  She struggled harder, desperately trying to free herself.

The drill touched Lena’s head.

Amélie screamed.

 

* * *

 

 

Emily looked up from her morning cup of coffee as Amélie entered the kitchen.

“Hey luv.  You feeling better?”

Amélie nodded numbly.  “I think so. Sorry about last night.” she said as she sat down across from the redhead.

Emily gave a sympathetic smile.  “It’s alright. It was just a nightmare.  Everyone gets them. Even me and Lena.”

“Yes, but I still feel bad for waking you.”

“No worries.  Lena’s the same way after she does it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  It’s gotten better, but she still occasionally gets nightmares about the Slipstream.  I usually get woken up by the bed shifting as she scrambles out of bed. By the time I realize what’s going on, she’s usually huddled in the corner, clutching her Accelerator and either crying or just staring off at nothing.  The best I can do is hold her and let her know that she’s _here_ and she’s alright and that I’m here for her.”

Amélie saddened upon hearing that.  She knew Lena didn’t like to talk about the Slipstream incident, but she never quite realized how much pain and sadness Lena held behind her mask of seemingly perpetual cheerfulness.

“What about you?” she asked.  “What are your nightmares like?”

Emily shrugged.  “Mine aren’t that bad.  I’ve never woken up screaming or anything like that.  Mine tend to more...stress dreams, y’know? The kind where everything seems normal, but there’s something just...off?  Like, you’re just trying to do something normal, and everything seems to go wrong, and you’re slowly getting more panicked and frantic and frustrated.  That kind of thing.”

“I see.”

“Do you mind me asking...about yours?”

Amélie thought for a minute, debating with herself whether or not she wanted to talk about it.  During her therapy sessions with Zenyatta, he encouraged her to open up about her feelings. He said that it would help her to accept what had happened and, hopefully, move on from the trauma.  Just as Emily was about to assure her that she didn’t have to, she spoke.

“They...they caught me.  They had you and Lena as well.  They...they were going to change me back into Widowmaker, but... they were going to make me watch as they did the same to you two first.  I woke up just as they started.”

“That must have been really scary.”

“Yes, it was.”

“What was it like?” Amélie looked up at that.  Was she asking what was it like to be afraid in that way?

Emily seemed to sense her confusion.  “I mean, what was it like...being Widowmaker?  Was it like someone else being in control of your body?”

Amélie shook her head.  “No. That is actually what Dr. Ziegler thought.  But, no. That is not how brainwashing works.” She thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to describe it.  “In the chatroom, she likened my deprogramming to a computer rebooting and reverting to an older operating system. That was probably more accurate than it at first seemed.  Brainwashing doesn’t create a new personality, it’s like...adding on to the original programming, to the point where the program functions very differently, but all of the old code is still there.

“The main difference was that they used those...infernal chemicals to ‘deny access’ to the parts of my ‘coding’ that allowed me to feel.  When I killed Gérard, I was in full control, but I didn’t care. They _made_ me not care.  They made it so I _couldn’t_ care.”  Amélie let out a shaky sigh.  “I think that is the worst part, to me.  The fact that it _was_ me who committed those...those atrocities.  I was still Amélie Lacroix. I was still in full control.  I could remember everything about my life, but I didn't care about who I had been.  They had made just me _think_ differently.  Made me believe things that weren’t true.  Things like; Overwatch was evil, Talon would change the world for the better, and...that...that Gérard was a bad person who should die.”

Amélie had to stop and take a few deep breaths.  The memories were still painful. She suspected they always would be.  Emily reached over the small table and placed her hand on Amélie’s in an attempt to comfort her.

“Widowmaker did not _replace_ Amélie, but was built on top of Amélie.  Dr. Ziegler told me about a case from back in the 1970’s.  A woman was kidnapped by an extremist group, locked in a closet for weeks with nothing but propaganda pamphlets.  She was only let out to eat and to talk about what was on the pamphlets. One day, she announced that she wanted to join their cause.  And it wasn’t just a ruse to escape. She became one of their most vocal members. She built bombs, committed robbery, and even kidnapped other people.  She never tried to escape, and even went to jail for her new beliefs. Dr. Ziegler suspects that it was the case of that woman that inspired Talon to do what they did to me.”

“Wow…” Emily’s voice was soft as she processed all of this.  “That’s pretty crazy, but if you ever need to talk, to let it out, you know that me and Lena will always be willing to listen.”

Amélie smiled softly.  “Thank you.”

There was silence for a moment, as both women struggled to think of how to move on from the topic.  Amélie glanced around, trying to be casual. Her eyes settled on a small notepad next to Emily.

“What is that?”

“Hm?  Oh, this?  It just a list of things for Lena to do around the house while I’m at work.”

Amélie smiled.  “To keep her out of trouble?”

Emily chuckled.  “Believe it or not, it was actually her idea.  I’m sure you know she tend to get a little stir-crazy when there’s nothing to do.  So I just give her a few things to do so she won’t be so bored. ...and yes, it keeps her out of trouble.” she finished with another laugh.  She glanced at the clock. “Speaking of work, it’s about time I get going.”

“You’re not leavin’ without givin’ me a hug an’ a snog.” came Lena’s sleepy voice as she entered the kitchen.  In her half-awake state, Lena barely registered her girlfriends’ light giggles as she made her way to Emily. The two enveloped each other in a loving hug and shared a quick kiss.

“How long do you work?”  Amélie asked.

“I work 10 hours a day, Thursday through Sunday.  I’ll be home a little after 7.”

“That’s an...interesting schedule.”

“I know, but it lets me have Monday through Wednesday off which are the shop’s slowest days.  That way, we can spend a full two days together without obligations, and I can get you to and from the airport on Wednesdays.”

“It’s a bit odd, but we make it work.” said Lena, finally pulling out of the hug.

Emily checked the time again.  “Oh! I really gotta go now.” She gave Lena one last quick kiss, grabbed her purse and made for the door.

“Wait.”  Both Emily a Lena turned to Amélie, who strode up the the redhead.  She took a breath, cupped Emily’s cheeks, and gave her a soft kiss. “Have a good day at work, chérie.”

Emily smiled, and gently caressed Amélie’s cheek in return.  “Thanks, luv. You two be good.” With that, she gave a wink, turned, and left.

The moment she was gone, Amélie felt Lena’s arms wrap around her accompanied by Lena’s radiant body heat pressing into her  from behind.

“Mornin’, luv.”

Amélie smiled, “Good morning to you as well, chérie.”

“Mmm...as much as I’d like to stand here holding you all day, I’m famished.  How ‘bout you? You eaten yet?”

“I’m not very hungry.”

“No excuse.  You should still eat something.  A small breakfast is better than no breakfast.  Come on.” she said grabbing Amélie’s hand and pulling her back to the kitchen.

“Can you even cook?” Amélie asked teasingly.

“Course I can,” Lena replied, only moderately offended.  Lena made her way over the fridge as Amélie sat down. “I lived on my own for a few years.  When you live alone, you got three options; learn to cook properly, get fat off cheap-o food-stuffs, or starve in a misdirected attempt to save money.  I went with the first option. While I may not be no gourmet chef, I can at least do more than follow the instructions on a microwave entrée.”

Amused, Amélie rested her chin in her hand as she watched Lena dart around the kitchen scrambling eggs, buttering toast, and frying sausages.  Ten minutes later, Lena set a plate in front of her and sat down to her own. As she sat, she noticed the list that Emily had left for her.

“Aww… ‘Clean the bathroom’?  Really Em?” she lamented.

Amélie was unable to hold back her laugh.

 

* * *

 

 

“Amélie?”

Amélie looked up from the Sunday morning pancakes Lena had made.  “Oui?”

“We’re going be doing things a bit...different today, luv.” Emily said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, since it’s Sunday, Lena’s going to be going to a rugby game…”

“Actually,” Lena interjected, “It’s a rare double-header today.”  Amélie looked at Lena, just now noticing that she was wearing a rugby jersey, which looked to be a size too big for her.

“Right, so Lena will be gone pretty much all day, and I work all day.”

Amélie could tell what they were getting at.  “...And as per the terms of being allowed to leave the base, I am not allowed to be on my own.”

“Exactly.  So...who do you want to follow around today?  Go with Lena to the games, or with me to the lingerie shop?”

Amélie thought for a moment, before looking to Lena apologetically.  “Désolée, chérie, but I don’t think I would be comfortable around a large crowd at this time.”

Lena smiled reassuringly.  “No worries. It's probably safer, too.  If you’re around less people, the less likely someone from Talon will see you.  Plus rugby crowds can get pretty ugly sometimes.”

“Alright then.” said Emily.  “Although, I should warn you, my job isn't exactly exciting, so you might want to grab a book or something to occupy yourself with.”

“A book does sound like a good idea.  I have always enjoyed reading.”

When Emily told her they’d be leaving in ten minutes, Amélie made her way over to the large bookshelf in the living room.  It was completely filled to the brim, with a few books even stacked on top. Now, which one(s) should she take?

There were books on planes and flight.  No doubt Lena’s. Romance novels that appeared to run the gamut from cheesy to salacious (and possibly even full-on erotica).  Probably Emily’s if she had to guess. A few sci-fi and fantasy books, not sure whose they were. But what surprised her was an entire shelf of murder mysteries, specifically, Poirot novels.   _‘So close, yet so far.’_ she chuckled to herself, _‘He is not French, he is Belgian.’_  With only a few minutes to go, Amélie grabbed one of the Poirot books, and a random romance novel.

As Emily and Amélie walked up to the shop, Amélie was surprised to see someone already waiting for them.  It was a woman who appeared to be not a day under eighty years old. As they approached, the woman smiled brightly.

“Good morning, Emily.  Who’s your friend?”

“Good morning, Rose.  This is Amélie, a friend of Lena’s who’s visiting from France.  Amélie, this is Rose-Marie, our oldest employee.”

“In both senses of the word.” Rose added with a smile.  “Pleased to meet you, dearie.” she said, extending a hand.

Amélie shook her hand with a smile.  “Likewise.”

“So where is Lena?  Haven’t seen her in some time.”

Emily smiled.  “Oh, you know her.  Always running off to save the world.  Right now though, she’s at a rugby match.”

Most of the day passed uneventfully, but about an hour before Emily was scheduled to leave for the day, thing tooks a turn in the form of two sawed-off barrels pointed directly at her face.

Amélie had been making small talk with Rose when she heard a voice growl.  “Do as I say and I _might_ not kill you.”

Amélie turned to see Emily staring down the twin barrels of a sawn-off shotgun.  The ski mask-wearing man wielding the weapon grabbed Emily’s arm and forced her behind the register, telling her to open it.  Amélie’s mind raced. She had to do something. She couldn’t risk Emily getting hurt, or worse. Just as Emily had nearly finished handing over all the money to the masked man, an idea hit her.  Taking a breath to steady her nerves, she removed her hair from its ponytail and undid a couple of buttons on her blouse, revealing an impressive amount of cleavage.

As quietly as she could, Amélie positioned herself behind the robber.  “Excuse me, sir.” she said in the most seductive voice she could. How many times had she done something similar as Widowmaker?  She didn’t want to think about it. The man spun to face her, ready to tell her off, only to stop at the sight of the stunningly beautiful woman before him.  “Is there anything else _I_ can help you with?” she asked, her voice dripping with honey.

“Uuuuh…” the man’s eyes seemed glued to Amélie’s busom.  In the blink of an eye, Amélie grabbed his wrist, pushing the gun away from any potential victims.  Her other hand slammed into his nose with a sickening crunch. He howled in pain and dropped his gun as he reached up to cover is face.  Amélie followed up with a spinning backhand to his temple. He spun, his head hitting a nearby rack of panties, and fell to the floor, out cold.

For a moment, nobody moved as they processed what just happened.

Then, as if snapped out of a trance, Emily started slightly, and ducked beneath the counter, pressing the silent alarm under the register.

The next half hour was spent answering questions from a police officer, Sergeant Sinclair, Amélie noticed, while her partner, a brutish-looking omnic, hoisted the robber into his arms and gently placed him into the back of the squad car.

“While the way you took him down _was_ impressive, it was also very dangerous.”

“I understand madame, but I did not want to risk him firing that weapon, and his choice of words made it clear that there was no guarantee that we’d be left unharmed.”

The officer let out a small sigh, “That’s as may be, but I’m still going to have to give you a warning not to do it again.”

“I understand.”

“I am curious, though, where’d you learn to fight like that?”

“My husband was a fighter.  He taught me a few things so I could defend myself.”

“I see.  And where is your husband now?”

“He is dead.”

“Oh.  My condolences, ma’am.”

“Thank you.”

The officer looked confused for a moment.  “Wait a moment. Didn’t you say your name was ‘Amélie Lacroix’?”

“Oui.”

“Weren’t you missing or something?”

Amélie let out half a chuckle.  “No. I left France after my husband was murdered.  I simply did not feel safe there. Also, I had been diagnosed with a very rare heart condition, so I have spent much of my time seeking out doctors for treatment.”

“Have you had any luck?”

Amélie smiled.  “Oui. I recently met the famous Dr. Angela Ziegler, and her treatments have been the most successful so far.”

Sergeant Sinclair smiled.  “Well that’s good.” The omnic made a noise, drawing Sinclair’s attention.  She nodded at him and addressed everyone. “Well, we’ve got to go. We’ll contact you if we have more questions.”

After they had gone, Emily practically lept into Amélie’s arms.  “Thank you, luv.” she said, peppering Amélie’s face with kisses. “That was so brave of you.”

“Uh, Emily?”

Emily and Amélie froze.  Rose was staring at them with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh...I can explain?”

“Allow me, chérie.” Amélie said.  She turned to Rose. “Lena and I were lovers many years ago.  When we met again a few months ago, Emily was kind enough to allow us to rekindle our relationship, and it has evolved into a sort of...ménage à trois, so to speak.”

Rose’s face softened.  “Aw...that’s so sweet.”

Emily was stunned.  “You-you’re not weirded out by this?”

“Of course not, dear.” Rose chuckled, “You’re not doing anything I haven’t done.” she finished with a wink.  Both Emily and Amélie were left speechless by that. “Now, you’ve had a rough afternoon. So why don’t you two head home.  I can handle things until Blair and Stephanie get here to close.”

 

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile…

 

A man paced nervously in an abandoned apartment.  He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the cloaked man that materialized in the room.

“Report.” the newcomer growled.

The man jumped.  “Ah! Oh, uh, I saw her.  That is...Widowmaker, Mister Reaper, sir.” he said, shaking.

“Where?”

“She went into a lingerie shop with some red-headed woman.  Two blocks North and three blocks West of here.”

“And you contacted me and only me, right?” Reaper growled, looming over him.

“Yes sir!  I contacted you as quickly as I could.”

Reaper was silent for a moment.  “What’s your name?”

Caught off-guard, the man blinked at him momentarily.  “Uh, Stevens, sir. Ted Stevens.”

“Good job, Stevens.  I will let the council know of your diligence.”

“Thank you sir.”

“For now, though, you’re dismissed.  I’ll handle things from here.”

“I understand sir.”  Stevens moved past Reaper, but only made it a few feet before his head was blown clean off by a blast from one of Reaper’s Hellfire shotguns.

Reaper watched his body fall dispassionately, before pulling out his communicator.

“Sombra.”

“¿Sí papá?” came the sarcastic response.

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Hm... I don’t recall.” Sombra said, faking innocence.

Reaper rolled his eyes.  “Anyway. I just had to kill Stevens.”

“Who?”

“One of the grunts.  He saw Widowmaker in London.  I need a cover story.”

“Oh, okay.  Is his phone on him?”

Reaper checked.  “Yes.”

“Alright.  Give me the number and I’ll plant some messages to make it seem like he was going to sell some Talon secrets.”

“I suppose that’ll work.”

“Trust me, Gabe, it will.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m in the middle of something.  Adiós.”

Reaper pocketed his communicator, and dispersed back into smoke, leaving through the open window he’d entered through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. This is the longest chapter I've ever written, and I'm quite proud of it. On the other hand, I'm not too proud of how part 1 turned out, so I might go back and redo it at some point. But for now, I'm just going to focus on getting this story finished.
> 
> Also, if you're wondering, that case of a woman being kidnapped and brainwashed back in the 70s is real. Her name was Patty Hearst. I first heard about her in the Game Theory video "Luigi's SECRET Identity". Freaky stuff.
> 
> As always, thanks to everyone who reads, comments, and gives kudos.


	6. Reason to Celebrate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little feel-good chapter. Enjoy.

“-amid growing pressure from several social and political activist groups, as well as several notable figures from the Shambali, England has become the first country to officially legalize polyg-”

*CLICK*

“-has grown since Katya Volskaya announced her engagement to-”

*CLICK*

“-has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder of-”

*CLICK*

“-ongoing investigation into Vishkar employee-”

*CLICK*

“Do you own too many spice racks?  Hi! Mikey Mays here for-”

*CLICK*

Amélie sighed for the 37th time that morning.  Yes, 37. That is how bored she was; she had begun counting her sighs.  But being bored was still preferable to the alternative; worried. For the past few days, Amélie had been doing all she could to distract herself from being worried about Lena.

The day after Lena and Amélie had returned from their third trip to visit Emily, Lena had been called away on a mission.  Not just any mission, but a mission from Sombra. Amélie didn’t know the details, only that it was an infiltration and data recovery mission.  Sombra had picked Lena, Genji, and Ana for the mission. Now, some people might question the choice of bringing Lena, assuming that it would be difficult for her to be unseen with the glow of her Chronal Accelerator, but putting the Accelerator into reserve power mode, and the addition a simple dark hoodie to mask the glow, and Lena could be surprisingly stealthy.

The problem was that Sombra had said that the mission would only take about a week, give or take, to complete.  But by the time two weeks had passed, Amélie was officially worried. But as the three week point rapidly approached Amélie has resorted to distracting herself to avoid thinking about all the worst-case scenarios that kept creeping into her mind.

Television and reading helped, as did her daily tea-time with Mei and Satya, but meditating with Zenyatta had proven counter-productive.  Being alone with her thoughts allowed those fear to quickly push their way to the forefront of her mind. She tried listening to Zenyatta’s advice, but ‘clear your mind’ was far, far easier said than done.

“Good morning, Amélie.”  Amélie was snapped from her thoughts by the Angela’s calmly cheerful voice.  “How are you?”

Amélie sighed again.  38 now. She decided not to deny it any longer.  “I’m worried about Lena.”

Angela smiled broadly.  “Well, I’ve got some good news; we’ve finally heard from the away team, and they’ll be back on base within the hour.”

Amélie leaned back and let out a relieved sigh.  39. Wait, should that one count if it wasn’t from boredom?  “That  _ is _ good news.”

“Well, before you get too excited, remember that they’ll all have to get a quick post-op check up with me, and then they’ll have to be debriefed by Jack and Winston.”

“D’accord.” Amélie said, while attempting, and failing, to hide her disappointment.

Angela gave a teasing smile, “...but I’ll see if I can bump Lena to the front of the list.”

Amélie noticed Angela’s smile, and returned it.  “Thank you, doctor.”

“No problem.  And I’ve told you, call me Angela.”

Two hours later, and Amélie still hadn’t left the couch.  She had, however, gone from  _ sitting _ on the couch to  _ lying _ on the couch, and was now struggling to stay awake.  Just as her eyes closed, a familiar voice reached her ears.

“Hey, Luv!”

Amélie’s eyes snapped back open and she practically leapt off the couch.  “Lena!”

Lena giggle was cut short as Amélie’s lips collided with hers and she was wrapped up in the French woman’s arms.

“Mmm...miss me?” she asked after the kiss ended.

“What do you think, mon coeur?” Amélie mumbled into Lena’s hair.  Her arms tightened, “Please don’t worry me like that again.”

“I’m sorry, luv.  The place we were scouting had  _ a lot _ of security.  We had to wait for just the right moment to infiltrate.”

Amélie frowned.  “I understand that, but I would have liked if you had at least checked in to let us know you were alright.”

“I know, and I wanted to, but it wasn’t my call.  If I’m honest, though, it was  _ really _ boring.”

Amélie chuckled.  She could always count on Lena to lift her spirits.

“Um, Luv?”

“Hm?”

“If we’re gonna keep snuggling like this, you mind if we move to the couch?”

Smiling, Amélie silently pulled back, took Lena’s hands and flopped back onto the couch, pulling Lena down on top of her.  Lena cooed appreciatively as she nestled her head under Amélie’s chin. Amélie’s arms wrapped around Lena, almost posessively, and she pressed a kiss to the top of the brunette’s head.  Being back in each others’ arms was such a relief that it was a matter of minutes before they had nodded off.

 

* * *

 

Amélie slowly became aware of something on top of her.  She knew she had fallen asleep with Lena on top of her, bet there was something else now.  Peeking her eyes open slowly, she looked down, pleased to see Lena still resting on top of her, but now, a blanket had been laid over them.  Taking a look around, moving slowly so as not to wake the still sleeping Lena, she was immediately aware that the TV was still on, and that there was someone else in the room.

Ana.  She sat in one of the large arm chairs, calmly sipping from a large cup of tea.  Amélie managed to make a small noise which drew Ana’s attention. Amélie gestured at the blanket, silently asking if it was Ana who had placed it there.  Ana just gave a smile and returned to her tea.

 

* * *

 

“...mélie?...”

A groan emanated from Amélie’s throat as she clenched her eyes even more shut.  A familiar giggle helped to fight away the sleep.

“Amélie?  Time to get up.”

It took a moment before Amélie’s eyes fluttered open.  The blanket was gone, and Lena now stood over her.

“How long were we asleep?” Amélie asked, her voice still rough from sleep.

Lena chuckled.  “A little under five hours.  It’s almost time for dinner. Come on.”  She held out her hand and Amélie took it.

After a brief trip to the bathroom to freshen up, they walked hand in hand to the cafeteria.  But as they walked, Amélie noticed something. It was quiet, almost too quiet. Where was everyone?  They entered the cafeteria, only to find that the lights were out, making it almost pitch black.

“Hm... I’ll get the lights, Luv.”

*CLICK*

“SURPRISE!”

Amélie jumped and let out a small yelp at the sound, but relaxed a bit when she saw that it was the other members of Overwatch.  Well, most of them, anyway. A few were off on missions, but most of those present were the ones who were friendliest towards Amélie.  The cafeteria had also been lightly decorated with candles on the table, some streamers, balloons, and a ‘Happy Birthday’ banner.

And front and center, with one of the warmest smiles ever, was Emily.

Amélie felt Lena’s fingers entwine with hers.  “Happy birthday, Luv.” she said.

Amélie blinked, and her mind race for a moment.  It  _ was _ her birthday.  She laughed lightly.

“Mon dieu.  It had completely slipped my mind.”

She turned back to the others just as Emily reached them.  “Happy birthday.” she said giving Amélie a kiss. “Come on, now.  Dinner’s ready.” She led Amélie over to the table. “It’s not quite haute cuisine, it’s one of the fanciest meals I know how to make.”

She seated Amélie at the head of the table, and Amélie took note of the spread.  Her mouth watered at the sight of filet mignon, potatoes au gratin, a light garden salad, an almost comically long baguette, and a vintage bottle of red wine.

“It looks and smells wonderful, chérie.”

Over dinner, Lena and Emily explained how this little party came to be.  During their last trip to visit Emily, Lena had mentioned that Amélie’s birthday was coming up, and the two set about planning.  Before she’d left on her mission, Lena had informed everyone at base what she and Emily wanted to do. Nothing too over the top, just a simple dinner with friends.

Sombra’s mission  _ had _ taken longer than expected, but had actually finished a few days ago, and the team made a detour to London to pick up Emily.

“We just had to make sure you didn’t see Emily or come into the cafeteria before everything was ready.”

“Which worked out pretty well, since we fell asleep on the couch.” Lena said with a laugh.  Amélie couldn’t help giggling as well.

Shortly after dinner had finished, Emily excused herself and disappeared into the kitchen, only to reappear a moment later with a large cake, red velvet, Amélie’s favorite, with a chocolate frosting made by Angela.  After the cake, which Amélie had to stop herself from having a fourth piece of, Emily stood up to address everyone.

“Okay, we said that gifts would be welcome, but not necessary.  So, does anyone have a gift?”

“Da.  I have one.”  Zarya said. She pulled a gift box from under the table, stood, walked over, and gave the box to Amélie with a kind “Happy birthday.”.

Amélie accepted the gift and carefully opened it to reveal a book.  “It is a book on the history of Russian ballet.” Aleks said so everyone would know.  “It was a bit of a challenge to find a French translation.”

Amélie smiled up at her.  “Thank you, Aleks. I look forward to reading it.”

Zarya nodded and returned to her seat.  Not everyone had a gift to give, but by the time they were all opened, Amélie had received a sample set of teas from around the world, courtesy of Ana and Satya, a box of Swiss chocolates from Angela, and an EP from Lúcio consisting of remixes of some of iconic ballet songs.  The one that surprised her was when Winston presented her with a nearly hundred year old, very expensive bottle of fine wine. When asked about how he could afford it, he somewhat sheepishly explained how he was still earning money from several inventions he’d developed during his time working with the original Overwatch.

“Alright, is that everyone?”  Emily asked. “Right, then here’s mine.”

Amélie opened the box, but Lena, who could easily see into the box, reacted first.  “Oh, Luv, really?” she asked Emily, the embarrassment clear in her voice, drawing confused looks from everyone.

Amélie held up the object.  “It is a scarf.” she said, “And it is beautiful.  The purple is even my favorite shade. But why the dismay, chérie?” she asked Lena.

Emily laughed.  “Lena got me that same scarf for Christmas, although, that one was green.”

“Oh, I see.” Amélie said with a small grin. “So now, I must get one for Lena to complete the circle, non?”

Lena coughed awkwardly.  “Anyways, mine’s not as impressive as the others.” she said, as she handed over a plain envelope, “but I’m pretty sure you’ll like it.”

Amélie opened the envelope and pulled out the pieces of paper within.  Everyone watched in rapt silence as she read. Suddenly, she gasped. “Oh, Lena!  This...this is…”

“What is it?” someone asked.

“Tickets to Cirque du Soleil.” Lena said.  She looked at Amélie’s stunned expression. “You once mentioned that you always wanted to go, but every time there was an opportunity, something got in the way.  So I thought, maybe this time it’ll work out?”

Amélie was silent for a moment before grabbing Lena’s face in her hands and pulling her into a passionate kiss.  Breaking the kiss after a moment, she wiped a tear from her eye and whispered, “Thank you, mon chérie.” With a small clearing of her throat, she addressed the whole group.  “And thank you all. This has been a wonderful birthday.”

 

* * *

 

Arriving back in their quarters, Amélie sat down on the bed with a sigh.  While she  _ had _ enjoyed the party, it was still a bit exhausting.

“Don’t get too comfortable, pet,” Emily said teasingly, “we’ve still got one more present for you.”

Amélie arched an eyebrow.  “Oh?’

“Mmhmm.  Close your eyes.”

Amélie did as she was told.  With her eyes shut, her curiosity made focused on sounds.  She could hear some soft rustling noises and Emily’s melodic giggle.  Her brow furrowed in mild frustration and confusion. What could it be?

She heard Lena take a deep breath.  “Okay, Luv. Open ‘em.”

Amélie opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat.  Before her, Emily and Lena stood in nothing more than some racy lingerie.  Emily was garbed in a lacy red teddy, striking a sexy pose, while Lena stood awkwardly in an Overwatch Blue set of see-through bra and panites.

Amélie studied them,  _ really _ studied them, for a moment.  She could feel a familiar heat rising between her legs.

“Well, chéris, while this is certainly an enjoyable sight, how exactly is lingerie a present for me?”

Lena smiled, “Well, Luv, it’s pretty simple.  We talked to Angie, and she’s cleared you.”

“Cleared me?” Amélie echoed.

“You know, for…” Emily said, stepping up to her, “more strenuous activities.” she finished as she used a finger to trace Amélie’s collarbone.

“Oh.” Amélie said.  But then it really hit her.

“OH.”

“Yep.”

“Well then,” Amélie said, her voice becoming husky, “In that case-” she stared, but stopped.  “Actually, I don’t believe I’ve made a birthday wish yet.”

“Uhh, no, buy why-?” Lena started to ask.

“Well, I think I have one now.” Amélie said, cutting her off.

“Oh?  And what would that be?”  Emily asked as Lena moved closer to them.

“My wish,” Amélie reached up, caressing their hips, “Is that when I wake up tomorrow, I won’t be able to feel my legs.”

The two Brits shared a look, before Lena all but lept onto Amélie capturing her lips in a lustful kiss.  Emily’s grin never left her face as she joined them. Both Brits were now fully intent on fulfilling their girlfriend’s birthday wish.

Sometimes, wishes  _ do _ come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So, just a preemptive apology, because with the holidays upon us, my job demanding more of my time (I work in retail), and the next chapter being the longest one I have planned, I don't know if I'll be able to get it out in the usual time frame. (I try to publish a chapter within the first two weeks of the month.)


	7. Le Retour du Cauchemar?

Amélie was only half paying attention to the television. Her other half was simply enjoying the company of her girlfriends.  Normally, after breakfast, Lena would head off to train, but with Emily on base, she decided she could skip a few days so they could all relax.  Which was fine with Amélie. After their “strenuous activities” last night, relaxation was her top priority at the moment.

Currently she was lounged on the common room couch.  Emily sat on one side of her, gently leaning against Amélie’s shoulder and calmly sipping from a mug of tea.  Lena was on Amélie’s other side, lying down with her legs draped over the couch’s arm and her head resting in Amélie’s lap, enjoying Amélie’s lazily administered head scratches.

Amélie was happy, content, with not a want in the world at that moment.

“I’m gonna get another cuppa.  You want some more coffee, Luv?” Emily asked her.

Okay... maybe _one_ want.

"Oui s'il vous plaît."

“Mm...I love it when you talk dirty.” Lena purred.

Amélie rolled her eyes.  “You know perfectly well I am speaking French.”

“Close enough for me, Luv.” Lena explained with a wink, causing her girlfriends to chuckle at her silliness.

Before Emily could get up, however, a familiar *BING* sounded over the P.A., followed by Athena’s voice.

“All agents please report to the conference room for briefing.  Repeat: All agents please report to the conference room for briefing.”

Lena let out a groan and sat up.  “Really?” she bemoaned to no one in particular.  She climbed off the couch and stretched. “Well, hopefully it won’t take too long.”

Just as she was about to lean down and gave both of her girlfriends a quick kiss, another *BING* sounded, this time followed by Winston's voice.

“Uh, *ahem*, a slight adjustment to the previous announcement: _Everyone_ to the conference room, please.  Everyone to the conference room. Thank you.”

Lena looked at Emily and Amélie.  “I...guess that means you, too?”

“I suppose so.” Emily said standing up.  She turned and offered a hand to Amélie. “Shall we?”

Amélie smiled and took her hand.  As they made their way out of the common room, Lena took Amélie’s other hand.

“With any luck, it’ll just be Jack complaining _again_ about how nobody changes the bog rolls in the public loos.” she said, eliciting another round of laughter.

They were surprised, however, when they entered the conference room, to find Jack sitting at the massive round table, instead of being at the far end, in front of the massive computer screen, ready to rant, like he usually would be.  In his usual place was Sombra, deep in a hushed conversation with Winston. The two gave a nod of acknowledgement when the trio entered before returning to their discussion.

Once everyone had assembled, Winston cleared his throat.  “I apologize for calling everyone here on such short notice,” he said, “but we believed that this discussion was something everyone deserved to hear and partake in.  With that, I will turn the floor over to Sombra.”

Sombra stepped forward with a small wave.  “Alright, first, I’ll start with some good news: Talon has officially stopped _actively_ searching for Widowmaker.”

“ _Actively_ searching?” Jack echoed questioningly.

“Sí.  The BOLO is still out there, but so long as she lays relatively low, it shouldn’t be something we have to worry about.”  She looked at Amélie, “So that means your chateau is safe now.”

“Ooh!  We should visit.  Plan a holiday and all that.” Lena suggested.

“Not a bad idea pet.” Emily said.  “It been a while since I’ve been to France, and that was just a couple days in Paris.”

Amélie scoffed.  “Paris is overrated.  If you want to see the real beauty of France, you need to get out of the cities.”

“I don’t know, I’d say we got the _real_ beauty of France right here.” Lena said with a kiss to the back of Amélie’s hand.

“Look at you, being all smooth.” Emily teased.  But all three froze when someone cleared their throat.

“Sorry to break up the sickeningly cute flirting, you three,” Sombra said, causing a few people to chuckle, “but we’ve got serious business to get to.”

She tapped on her holopad for a second, and a hologram appeared in the center of the table.  Upon seeing the hologram, Amélie gasped and her hand squeezed Lena’s painfully.

“Ow!  Amélie?”  She looked at the French woman.  Amélie was trembling as she stared unblinkingly at the three portraits displayed on the hologram.  “Amélie? You alright, Luv?”

“It’s them.”  Amélie’s voice was quiet and strained.

“Exactly.” Sombra confirmed.  “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce; Doctor Gunther Brown, neurologist,” one of the portraits increased in size slightly, it was a middle-aged black man with glasses and salt and pepper hair, “Doctor Edgar Müller, psychologist,” the next portrait was highlighted, showing an older, professional-looking man with short white hair with a moustache and goatee combo, “and Doctor Ofune Yamashita, chemical engineer.” the third portrait was highlighted showing a Japanese woman in her thirties, her hair was tied back in a high ponytail and her face serious.

"These are the three doctors responsible for creating Widowmaker.”  Sombra said grimly.

There was a pregnant pause.  For a full thirty seconds, nobody said a thing as they all processed this information.  The only sounds were the hum of the computers and Lena and Emily soothing Amélie who was trying to not hyperventilate.

Finally, it was McCree who broke the silence.  “Alright, so the job is to take these guys out?”

“Or bring them to justice?” Fareeha was quick to add.

“...Not exactly.” Sombra said hesitantly.

“What!?"

“Why not?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“They deserve to be punished!”

Sombra held her hands up to silence everyone.  “Alright! Give me a minute and I’ll explain. Sheesh!”  She took a breath to ready herself. “First, let’s start with Dr. Brown, the neurologist.  He suffered from seizures as a child, but they were all but gone by the time he was a teenager.  This was what inspired him to go into the neurological field. He wanted to find a way to stop, prevent, or even cure seizures.”

“I’ve met him.” Angela suddenly said.  “We’ve met at a couple of conventions. He always _seemed_ like a nice man.”

“In all honesty, he was probably the most redeemable one of the three.” Sombra said, “As I mentioned, he was against slowing Widowmaker’s nervous system.  Also, most of the money he received from Talon went into his research. He _did_ keep some of it just to pay the bills, and he even donated some to a couple of local charities.”

“Doesn't excuse what he did.” Jack said.

“True.” Sombra agreed.

“So why ain’t we goin’ after him?” Jesse asked.

“Because, after nearly thirty years without a seizure, he had one while driving to work.  He lost control of the car and crashed. Medical examiner believes he died on impact.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.  And then there’s Dr. Müller.”  Sombra’s face darkened. “You’re going to leave him to me.”

“And why is that?” Zarya asked, folding her arms.

Sombra’s eyes scanned over the assembled group.  She took a slow breath. “What I am about to show you is sick and disgusting, so this is your one chance to look away.”  She waited a few seconds. Nobody moved. “Alright.” With that, she tapped on her holopad and the pictures of the three doctors were replaced with a video.  It took less than ten seconds for everyone to recoil in disgust. After Sombra had turned off the video and everyone had a moment to recover, Jesse spoke.

“Alright.  That answers one thing: the bastard’s a pedophile.”

“Exactly.  That’s what I was doing in Germany.  I was hacking into his personal files with the intent on finding out more about his involvement with Talon, and I found these instead.  There’s over a hundred videos. The cabron has been using the money he got from Talon to fly all over the world to do...that.”

“But why on Earth would he film himself?” Angela asked.

Sombra chuckled.  “LIke most people who do something they shouldn’t, once he got away with it, and _kept_ getting away with it, he fell into the trap of believing he would continue to get away with it.  Which is _extra_ stupid for a psychologist, when you think about it.  These videos are like trophies to him.”

“That still doesn’t explain why we’re leaving him to you.” Fareeha said.  “I think it’s fair to say that we _all_ want to see him brought to justice now.”

“Unless…” Jack said, leaning forward, “it’s personal.”

Sombra grimaced slightly.  “Kinda. As I said, he’s been using the money from Talon to fly all over the world to engage in these....activities.  Mostly Africa and southeast Asia, but also...Mexico.”

“As in, Dorado?” McCree asked.

Sombra nodded.

“And you have family in Dorado.” Zarya half-asked.

Sombra glared at her for a second.  “Not relatives by blood, but a girl I was in the orphanage with has a family now, including a daughter, Alejandra.  She’s like a little sister or a niece to me. Just the thought of him...” she shook her head to try to dispel the horrible mental image.

“Anyway, it’s gonna to be pretty simple to just leak his videos to the ‘net and make it seem like they came from his computer.  I don’t think I need to explain why that’ll be bad for him.” She glared down at the table, her fists clenched. “I’m not going to kill him.  I’m going to destroy his reputation and career. I’m going to ruin. his. life.” There was an awkward silence. After a moment, Sombra, blinked and cleared her throat.

“Anyway, that leaves us with Doctor Yamashita.  She’s the reason for our last mission. We snuck into a heavily guarded facility that Talon uses for _some_ of its money laundering operations.  The information I stole included _this_.”  A new image appeared on the holo of a document.  “An order from one Doctor Moira O’Deorain to Doctor Yamashita.  An order for the very same chemicals that were used to torture Amélie, as well as a good amount of equipment for restraining ‘patients’ and for the application of the drugs.  However, something about it was...off. The amounts. Based on the amount of chemicals Moira has ordered, Talon is not planning on making a new Widowmaker...they’re making at least a dozen.”

“Mein gott!” Angela all but yelled.  “This cannot be allowed.”

“Agreed.” Sombra said.  “So, I’m all ears for any plans.  We have a week until the delivery arrives by cargo ship in Italy, where Moira and Yamashita will both be in attendance for the handover.”

“Well, Genji an’ I are pretty good at bein’ all sneaky.  An’ Jack an’ Ana have done pretty well keepin’ hidden these last few years.  We should be able to-”

“No.” Jack interrupted.  “We all have a distinct style.  They’ll know it was us immediately.  We need to make this seem like we had nothing to do with it.

“What about Reaper?” Hana asked, “Isn’t he helping us?  Can’t he cover for us?”

“He only said he’d keep Amélie safe.  Doesn’t mean he’s on our side.”

And with that, silence held court at Overwatch.  Everyone sat in silence as they tried to think of a way to do this without letting Talon know it was them.

“I think I have an idea.”

Everyone turned, surprised to find that the one who spoke...was Amélie.

“...if that’s alright.” she added.

“Go ahead.”  Winston assured her.  “We’re listening.”

“Well...first, I need to know two things.  Lena?”

“Yeah?”

“Can your Pulse Bombs be detonated via a remote, instead of off a timer?”

Lena blinked, “Uh, Torb?”

The man in question grunted affirmatively.  “It can be done, but it’s a bit of a delicate process.  How many do you need?”

“ A lot.  As many as you can make.” Amélie said.

“Hmm...alright.  With Brigitte’s help, we should be able to have...about fifty or so when the time comes.”

“Thank you.  Secondly, Genji.”

Even through his mask, Genji looked surprised.  “Yes?”

“Do you think you could convince your brother to assist us?”

“I...I cannot make any promises, but I will try to talk to him.”

“Thank you.  If it helps...tell him about me.  Tell him about what Talon did to me.”

“Alright, amiga.”  Sombra said. “You’ve piqued my interest.  What’s the plan?”

 

* * *

 

“You don’t have to do this, you know.”

Amélie almost didn’t hear Lena’s words.  She had been lost in thought as she stared at the rifle on the table in front of her, the Widow’s Kiss.

“She’s right, dear.” Ana said from her other side.  “If you’re not comfortable doing this, I can take the shot for you.”

“No.  This is something I have to do myself.”  Amélie turned to Lena, “You set me free, Lena, but the shackles are still on my legs, and I must be the one who breaks them.  As longs as Talon can turn _anyone_ into a Widowmaker, they could potentially make _me_ into WIdowmaker again.  I cannot allow that to happen, and do not think I could live with myself if I allowed another to go through what I did.”

Lena studied her for a moment.  “Alright. But, I’ll be by your side the whole time.” she said, offering a reassuring smile.

Amélie smiled back at her.  “I would not have it any other way.”  She reached up and cupped Lena’s cheek, gently caressing her with her thumb.

Their attention was drawn away from each other by Ana clearing her throat.  “Regardless, I’m joining you as your backup in case you are unable to take the shot.”  Amélie nodded in understanding. “Now, are you ready?”

Amélie took a breath to steady herself.  She tentatively reached out and touched the Widow’s Kiss.  It was as if she didn’t trust herself with it, but she picked it up and readied it.

“Bring the gun up.  That’s it. Put your finger in the trigger.  Take a deep breath. Steady your nerves.”

Amélie stared through the scope at the target at the other end of the range, trying her hardest to stop the shaking in her hands.

“Pull.”

 

* * *

 

Hanzo slipped as quietly as he could into the apartment, his third in six months.  He had to switch apartments on a regular basis so as to keep the Shimada clan off his trail.  With a sigh, he made his way to the kitchenette, which looked out over the living area. As he entered, he noticed something was out of place, or rather, something _new_ was _in_ his place.

“Hello, brother.” came a robotically enhanced voice.

Hanzo’s glared at the intruder.  “What are you doing here?”

The brothers stared at each other for a long moment.

“I am here to ask for your assistance.”

Hanzo’s eyebrow raised slightly.  “What?”

“Please, sit.” Genji said, gesturing to the seat across the small table from him.  “I’ve made tea. Jasmine. Your favorite, if I recall.”

Hanzo stalked over and sat across from him.  He made no movements for the tea, and instead, opted to simply glare at the cyborg who called himself his brother.  “What do you want?” he half-growled.

Genji sighed mentally.  So much for a wholesome family reunion.  “You have encountered the assassin known as ‘Widowmaker’, have you not?”

Hanzo’s brow furrowed.  “I have. Why?”

“What do you know about her?”

“Not much.”  Honzo folded his arms as he thought.   “Female assassin. French. Favors a custom rifle capable of both sniping and automatic fire, but is not afraid of hand to hand combat.  She shows little to no emotion. Her skin is a strange bluish color. Both she and the one who calls himself Doomfist have made offers to restore the Shimada Empire in exchange for me joining their ‘association’.”

Behind his mask, Genji raised an eyebrow.  “...And what did you say to those offers, if I may ask?”

“I declined.”

“I see.  So that is all you know about Widowmaker?”

“Yes.  Why?”

“Well, then allow me to tell you the story of Gérard and Amélie Lacroix.”

 

* * *

 

“If even a single item is broken, you will _all_ pay the price.” Moira announced to the Talon grunts unloading the massive shipping container and transferring the equipment into the two trucks which would carry it all to the nearby Talon base.  She checked her watch. 11:03 p.m. “And hurry up. We only have fifty-seven minutes to get out of here before security begins their midnight rounds.”

“Yes, ma’am.” they chorused, knowing full well that the threat was not a monetary one.

“Doctor.” a new voice called.

Moira turned to face the newcomer.  “Ah, Doctor Yamashita-san,” she said with a slight bow, “it has been far too long.”

“Hm, indeed.” Ofune Yamashita said dispassionately.  “I hope you have my money. In addition to the increased cost and amounts of materials, it cost nearly three times as much in bribes to pull this off.”

Moira chuckled.  “I assure you, everything is in order.”  She pulled an envelope from one of her pockets.  “Here’s the first half of you payment. You shall receive the other half when the job is done.”

“Intruder!”

“Freeze!”

“Don’t move!”

The two doctors turned and the shouts.  Three of the grunts were pointing their guns at a spot in the surrounding darkness.  From the shadows, a figure stepped forward, his arms up in surrender. Moira smiled.

“Shimada-san, to what do we owe the honor of this visit?”  She waved away the grunts, who reluctantly lowered their weapons and went back to work.  “Have you reconsidered our offer?”

Hanzo lowered his arms.  “No. I am here to deliver a message to you.”

“Really now?”

He produced two envelopes seemingly from nowhere and offered them to the two doctors.

Yamashita raised an eyebrow.  “Me as well?”

Hanzo simply nodded.  When she took the envelope, sure enough, her name was on it.

“Who are these from?” Moira asked.

“Unfortunately, I do not know.  I was contacted through a third party.” he stated, folding his arms.

“Well, how did you know we’d be here?”

“The person who gave me those told me you would be here.  Now, if you will excuse me, my job is done, so I will take my leave.”  With that, he turned and walked back into the darkness.

“Our offer still stands, you know.” Moira called after him.

As they spoke and the grunts worked, none of them noticed the two shadowy figures lurking about.

Ofune looked questioningly at Moira.  Moira simply shrugged. “Odd fellow.” she said, more to herself than anyone else.  With that she opened the envelope and pulled out the paper within. After a moment Ofune did the same.  Both letters held the same message.

_“It is the way of men to make monsters... and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their makers.”_

The letter was signed with a red hourglass.

The doctors looked at each other.  Just as their eyes met, a sniper round blasted through Yamashita’s head, in one temple and out the other.  Moira watched helplessly as her body hit the ground with a thud. Initially startled by the sight, the sound of Ofune’s body landing shook her back to reality and her brain went into overdrive.

The sniper shot.

The red hourglass.

The message.

 _Widowmaker_.

“Sniper!” she yelled, as her body took action and she began running for cover.

The grunts all turned at her shout just in time to see her running towards them.  They had no time to react before another sniper round drilled its way through her head, entering through the back and exiting through her cybernetic eye.  Moira’s body fell, her momentum carrying her forward just enough that she skidded slightly after landing.

“Shit!” one of the grunts yelled.

And then, everything exploded.

From a vantage point atop a warehouse a mile away, Hanzo watched as the portion of the dock he had stood on less than a minute ago was consumed by explosions just as Sombra appeared next to him via the same translocator she had just had him use.  Over the distant rumble, a sob reached his ears. He looked over at the source of the crying, and he wasn’t sure about how he felt about the sight before him. The woman he had once known as the cold-hearted and unfeeling assassin known as Widowmaker was sobbing and hyperventilating into the shoulder of the former Overwatch poster child Tracer.  It felt...strange to say the least. Before he could ponder it further a cloaked figure landed nearby.

“We cannot linger.  Authorities will be here soon.” the figure spoke.  Hanzo recognized the newcomer’s mask from wanted posters he had seen.  Shrike.

 _‘What kind of people has Genji been associating with?’_ Hanzo thought before he was ushered away towards the stealthed Ocra parked nearby.  The cyborg in question fell into step beside him.

“You have done a good thing today, brother.  I know you wish to find your own path to redemption, but the offer to join us will always be open to you.”  Hanzo winced slightly at being called ‘brother’, but he gave a hum of acknowledgement.

After strapping himself in to his seat on the Orca, he watched as Tracer led Amélie to a seat across the ship from him.  Tracer said something to her that he couldn’t quite make out, before making her way to the pilot’s seat and starting up the ship.

 

 

Amélie felt the ship lift and take off, but she paid it no mind.  She was lost in her thoughts until someone sat beside her.

“How are you feeling, dear?” Ana asked.

Amélie thought for a second, before deciding on “Conflicted.  I...I just killed two people, and I feel horrible for doing so...but at the same time...”

“You are glad that they are dead?”

Amélie nodded.  Her fingers traced the faded tattoo on her arm.  After just a few treatments from Doctor Ziegler, it was nearly gone, but the word ‘Cauchemar’ was still slightly visible.

“It doesn’t get easier.” Ana said solemnly.  “Killing, I mean. Some people will say that you get desensitized to it, and that might be true for _them_ , but if you’re a good person, it doesn’t get easier.  I suppose you could argue that it _does_ get easier mechanically, but the emotional toll it takes will stay with you forever.”  Her eye met Amélie’s. “And that’s a good thing. Do you know why?”

Amélie shook her head.

“Because it means that you still care.  It means that you’re still _human_.”

Ana placed her hand on Amélie’s.  “I was in your position, once. The first time I killed someone.  And I’m going to give you the chance that I couldn’t have. The chance to get what you need.”

“What is that?”

Ana simply gave her a reassuring smile before getting up and returning to the cockpit.

 

* * *

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have gathered you all here to discuss this heinous murder, and to reveal who is responsible.”

Emily sighed.  She had seen this episode of Poirot over a dozen times now.  However, even with 10,000 channels, this was the only thing she felt like watching right now.  Frankly, she just wanted a distraction.

Despite both her and Lena doing their best to keep a positive attitude, they weren’t immune to anger, sadness, depression, or in this case, worry.  Tonight was the night that Lena and Amélie went on their mission to take care of Moira and Yamashita, and Lena’s text of _‘be home soon’_ hadn’t exactly been helpful.  How did the mission go? Was Amélie okay?  Would Amélie even be coming back with Lena?

She was torn from these anxious thoughts by the sound of a key in a lock.  She wanted to leap off the couch and run to the door and throw it open, but she held herself back and simply stood up and braced herself for whatever came through the door.

The door opened to reveal Lena, with Amélie right behind her.  Lena offered a subdued “Hey Luv.” which Emily returned in kind.

Once the door had closed behind them, Emily pulled Amélie into a hug.

“How’d it go?  Are you alright?” she asked.

“The mission was successful.” Amélie said, returning the hug.

Emily pulled back and cupped Amélie’s cheeks.  “But are you alright?” she repeated.

“I...I think so.”

“Is there anything we can do or get for you?”

Amélie thought for a second.  “Honestly, I think right now I would just like a glass of wine, a hot bath, and a good night’s sleep.”

Emily smiled broadly.  “I think we can help with that.  Come on.” she said.

Half an hour later, Amélie was feeling refreshed and as she lay in the bed she had come to share with Lena and Emily, and the aforementioned Brits had snuggled up on either side of her.

“I love you.  I love you both.” Lena mumbled into her shoulder.

“Love you both, too.” Emily responded.

Amélie thought back to Ana’s cryptic comment about what Amélie needed.   _‘I think I understand.’_ ’  What she needed was time, comfort, and love.  What she needed was her girlfriends. She let out a contented sigh.

“Je vous aime aussi tous les deux.  I love you both, too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. This is officially my longest (and possibly darkest) chapter to date. I hope the wait was worth it.


	8. Denouement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't speak French, and I'm not going to trust Google Translate, so Amélie's dialogue being in italics in the first half is to represent her speaking in French.
> 
> Also, contains a snippet of the lyrics from "Closing Time" by Semisonic

_“Hello, Gérard.”_

It was a cold Spring evening.  The wind was strong, strong and cold enough to chill her to the bone.  Amélie’s long, black coat fluttered in the harsh wind. Off in the distance, the sun was starting to set, but Amélie wasn’t paying attention to that.  Her eyes were locked on the large headstone of her late husband.

 _“It has been...nine years since...since that horrible night.”_  She bowed her head, fighting away tears.  She had hoped that she would be strong enough now to not cry.   _“I...I don’t know if there is an afterlife, but if there is, I hope you know the truth about that night.  I hope that you can forgive me for what I...for what I was made to do.”_  She choked back a sob and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

 _“A lot has happened since then.  For seven long years... I was a monster.  I killed many innocent and good people, but Talon had made me believe that I was doing the right thing.  But then, I was saved.”_  A smile graced her lips.   _“You remember Lena, right?  Of course you do. You set us up.”_ she said with a chuckle.

 _“Lena managed to undo Talon’s brainwashing.  She saved me. Since then, Talon has fallen into shambles, and... and I have fallen in love with Lena. But there is more; I have also fallen in love with her girlfriend.”_  She chuckled again.   _“Yes, her girlfriend.  A lovely redhead named Emily.  And yes, we have noticed the similarity between our names, and we have teased Lena a fair bit for it.  I think you would have liked her. She is kind, fun, flirty, and has the patience of a saint.”_  She chuckled again, but her smile faded slowly.

_“I know I have already asked you to forgive me, but I must ask that you do it again; for moving on, for falling in love again.  I choose to take solace in believing that you would have wanted me to find happiness if anything were to happen to you... and that is what has happened._

_“I will always love you.  Always. But I love Lena and Emily as well.  I want to spend the rest of my life with them.  If there is an afterlife…”_ she smiled sadly, _“I hope the four of us can spend eternity together.”_

She stepped forward and place a single red rose at the base of the headstone.  As she stood back up, she re-read the words engraved on its face for what must have been the fiftieth time;

 

Gérard Lacroix 

Beloved husband,

friend,

and protector.

 

_“Farewell, my love.  May you finally rest peacefully.”_

With that, she turned and made her way back to the main path where Lena and Emily were waiting for her.

“You alright, luv?” Lena asked when she had reached them.

Amélie smiled softly at her.  “Yes. I think so. Thank you both for bringing me here.  This was something I needed to do.”

“No worries.” Lena said, pulling her into a hug.

“Yeah,” Emily said, joining the hug, “You know we’d do anything for you.”

Amélie nodded.  “I do. And that is just one of the reasons I love you.”

Emily chuckled and pulled back from the hug.  “And we love you, too.” she said, as Lena gave Amélie another squeeze before pulling away, giving a ‘mm hmm’ in agreement.  “But it’s a good thing you’ve come back when you did. Another few minutes and we would have had to come get you.”

Amélie blinked for a second, before the meaning struck her.  “Yes, we have dinner reservations to get to, non?”

“Yep.  Come on then.”

As they piled into the car, Emily driving, Lena riding shotgun, and Amélie climbing into the back, Amélie’s eye landed on Gérard’s grave again.  As they drove away, her eyes never left it, until it was no longer visible. When her attention returned to the car, Lena was singing along to some song on the radio.

𝆕“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.  Yeah.

I know who I want to take me home.

I know who I want to take me home.

Take me home.”𝆕

The lyrics struck a chord within Amélie.  Her hands slid into the pockets of her coat.  As her fingers made contact with the small velvet box within each pocket, she smiled.  Those lyrics were wonderfully appropriate. Stemming from the new beginning for Amélie when Lena had saved her, this would be a new beginning.  A new beginning for all three of them.

 

End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for this story. As always, a huge Thank You to everyone who read it, gave kudos, and/or left a comment. Your support inspires me to keep writing.
> 
> Looking forward to the future: I still have another one-shot side story planned, as well as another full entry in the series, but, for a little while, I'm going to take a break from this series to work on a few other stories that I've got rattling about in my head.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feel free to follow me on Tumblr @ marksider89


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